Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
A STORM is brewing at Munyoro Secondary School in Mutare District, where the headmaster, Mr Gayford Duru, is under investigation by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education for alleged misconduct.
Mr Duru is accused of unilaterally changing the school uniform, and then monopolising the sale of the new fabric at inflated prices, forcing parents to buy directly from him.
The move has sparked outrage among parents and the wider community, who accuse him of exploiting his position for personal gain.
The headmaster is also facing allegations of misusing school property.
Reports claim he diverted the school’s kombi to transport bricks for a private construction project, further fuelling anger and suspicion.
Confirming the probe, Manicaland Province’s Chief Director of Primary and Secondary Education, Mr Richard Gabaza, said the ministry had launched an investigation into the matter.
He emphasised that the alleged conduct undermines the principles of good corporate governance and cannot be tolerated within the education system.
“It (alleged conduct) is against the principles of sound school governance, which epitomise high sense of responsibility, accountability, integrity, transparency and sustainable community engagement,” he said.
In an official report submitted to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education on the rapid decline of standards at Munyoro Secondary School, parents noted that the school head recently and unilaterally introduced a mandatory change to the long-standing school uniform, without consulting them.
“Since the deployment of the new headmaster, the institution has suffered from extreme financial inflation, structural disorder, and severe breaches of public trust. As key stakeholders who fund and support this institution, the community has gathered specific, verifiable grievances that require the urgent intervention of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
“The headmaster recently and unilaterally introduced a mandatory change to the long-standing school uniform. This policy was entirely unnecessary and has heavily burdened the local community because the headmaster has positioned himself as the sole supplier of the new material. He is selling this fabric at an exorbitant price, significantly higher than standard school wear, and because the specific material cannot be bought from independent local retailers, parents are forced to buy directly from him or face the exclusion of their children from classes,” reads parts of the report.
Parents further complained about the school’s acquisition of a kombi when the institution already owns a fully operational bus, further alleging that the mini-bus is being abused by the school head.
“Furthermore, overall school operating expenses, unapproved levies, and hidden costs have escalated exponentially since the arrival of this new administration. Despite these high financial demands on parents, there has been zero visible development in school infrastructure, classroom learning materials, or student welfare, leaving stakeholders to question the destination of these public funds. “Compounding this financial strain, the administration recently purchased a commuter omnibus (kombi). This procurement was completely redundant, as Munyoro Secondary School already possesses a fully operational school bus capable of handling all student transport needs. This new kombi is systematically withheld from student and school functions, and is instead used daily by the headmaster as his private vehicle. The community has secured definitive video evidence clearly capturing this school vehicle being loaded with and transporting bricks for the headmaster’s personal construction project,” reads the report.
The parents also complained about an unprecedented wave of internal thefts and robberies, which the headmaster is ironically reluctant to report to the police.
“The headmaster also routinely fails to report for duty, abandoning his core administrative responsibilities. This chronic absenteeism has caused a total breakdown of institutional order, resulting in a laissez-faire attitude among some members of staff, unsupervised classrooms, and severe increase in student truancy and indiscipline during official school hours.
“Worse still, the school has recently been plagued by an unprecedented wave of internal thefts and robberies. The headmaster has systematically refused to report any of these criminal cases to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) or to the ministry. His deliberate suppression of these criminal incidents, failure to launch internal security investigations, and refusal to involve law enforcement have led the community to strongly suspect his direct complicity or benefit from these crimes.
“The actions of the current headmaster constitute a severe abuse of office, gross financial misconduct, and a total failure of his duty of care. By prioritising personal enrichment through uniform monopolies and the misappropriation of school vehicles, he has compromised the academic and moral standards of the entire institution,” reads part of the report.
It is against this background that the community sought the intervention of the parent ministry, which ostensibly sent an audit team on a fact-finding mission.
“In light of these findings, the Mutare Zimunya community urgently requests your office to deploy an independent provincial auditing team to conduct a serious forensic audit of the school’s financial books, uniform sales records, and the procurement process of the redundant commuter omnibus.
The community stands ready to formally submit the video footage showing the school vehicle being used for personal brick-hauling to assist with this investigation. We also request an immediate freeze on the mandatory uniform restrictions until a transparent process is established, and the urgent appointment of an interim administrative authority to restore discipline, security, and professional oversight at Munyoro Secondary School, while official investigations are underway,” added the report.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from Mr Duru were unsuccessful at the time of going to Press, as calls and messages to his mobile phone went unanswered despite multiple attempts.
