Retired headmaster not entitled to car, rules court

Manicaland Correspondent.
A Mutare court last week dismissed a civil suit by Mutare Junior School’s ex-headmaster Mr Roger Sithole, who wanted the School Development Committee (SDC) to give him a car as a retirement gift. Government, through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, had previously advised the SDC against the idea of buying the retired school head the car worth $3 000.

Mutare magistrate Mr Innocent Bepura ordered Mr Sithole to transfer the ownership of the car in contention to the school.
It is believed that when Mr Bepura decided to retire in November 2016, the SDC resolved to buy him a car as a retirement gift since he had served the institution for more than 15 years.

A Honda Fit worth $3 000 was then bought from South Africa and registered in Mr Sithole’s name.
Government was against the idea as it viewed it as tantamount to abuse of students’ fees.

In particular, an unnamed schools’ district inspector prohibited the SDC from handing over the car to the school head.
Government auditors that were deployed at the school recommended that the vehicle be sold in order to recover the funds.

Commenting on the recent judgment, Manicaland provincial education director Mr Edward Shumba said justice had prevailed.
“I am quite happy about the judgment because justice has prevailed,” he said. “The vehicle should have been used for the benefit of the school.”

A concerned parent, Gladys Macheka (47), said the money could be better used to improve the school’s infrastruc- ture.
“There are not enough classes at the school; Grade Two students use the school hall instead of using separate classes for attending their lessons, so the SDC should not have misused the students’ contributions to buy a car that is not meant to benefit the school,” she said.