Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
NOT a month passes without another troubling headline: a school bus deal gone sour, a community in uproar, and a paper trail leading back to shadowy contracts and inflated invoices.
Across Zimbabwe, the once noble school bus has become an unlikely symbol of something far more corrosive than mechanical failure — a procurement system buckling under corruption, weak oversight, and brazen impunity.
Earlier this year, Government lifted the lid on the scale of the problem.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education revealed that more than 100 procurement irregularities were recorded in schools during 2025 alone.
The figures point to a pattern, not an anomaly — one marked by arrogance, malpractice, and monitoring systems too feeble to intervene before abuse festers.
At a public dialogue on Community Voices on Corruption in the Delivery of Education Services, organised by Transparency International Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, the Ministry’s Director of Procurement, Mr Sydney Mutodi, was blunt: weak enforcement of procurement rules and threadbare community oversight are fuelling abuse in schools.
When the gatekeepers look away, the loopholes widen.
A CITE investigation has peeled back another layer of Zimbabwe’s school bus saga.
What began as a levy scandal in Bulawayo schools has allegedly ballooned into a multi million dollar scheme.
At the centre of the allegations is Vordim Trading, a Bulawayo-based company accused by whistle blowers of bribing school officials, rigging procurement processes, and inflating bus prices by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What was meant to deliver safe transport for learners has, for some, become a lucrative racket.
Only last week, the spotlight swung east to Mutare.
In Sakubva’s sprawling suburb, Dangare Primary School, became the latest focal point, its own bus purchase drawing scrutiny and stirring unease among parents and residents.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education concedes the crisis is spiralling.
Director of Communications and Advocacy, Mr Taungana Ndoro, admitted the scourge is getting out of hand — a rare official acknowledgment that the buses ferrying children to class are also carrying a deeper failure in accountability.
“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has observed with deep concern the rising number of disputes and incidents of community unrest each time a school undertakes the purchase of a bus. What should be a moment of collective progress and enhanced learner safety has, in too many cases, degenerated into mistrust, protest, and regrettable confrontation. The ministry therefore continues to remind all School Development Committees, school heads, parents, and guardians, reaffirming the Government’s expectations and the procedures that must be followed without exception. The Government’s position is that the acquisition of any school bus, as a public asset, is a procurement exercise governed by the laws of Zimbabwe and the regulations of the ministry,” he said.
In asserting the dos and don’ts, Mr Ndoro emphasised the need for transparency.
“No school bus must be purchased through single-sourcing without prior written justification and approval from the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe. Every procurement must be preceded by a transparent, competitive bidding process in which tender notices are publicly advertised, bids are evaluated fairly, and the award is made to the supplier offering the best value for money. To further eliminate collusion, manipulation of prices, and human interference, the ministry encourages the use of the Electronic Government Procurement system to all Government and council schools,” he said.
Mr Ndoro noted inflating prices is a common misdemeanour.
“The ministry works hand-in-glove with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), and any SDC member, school official, or supplier found inflating prices, soliciting kickbacks, or manipulating tender outcomes will face the full force of the law, including arrest and prosecution. The ministry simultaneously reminds all schools that no learner shall ever be sent away from class, barred from writing examinations, or denied access to education on the grounds of an unpaid bus levy.
“Section 75 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Education Act place the right to education above all fund-raising considerations, and any school violating this constitutional imperative will be held accountable,” he said, adding that parent or guardian payment methods and processes are also fraught with irregularities.
“Regarding payment modalities, the ministry acknowledges the reality that the Government alone cannot finance the capital needs of every school, and that parents and guardians, through properly constituted SDCs, remain the primary source of funding for vehicles. Acceptable methods of raising funds include once-off or termly bus levies that are agreed upon transparently in a properly convened parents’ assembly, bank loans or hire-purchase agreements entered into with reputable financial institutions after full disclosure to the parent body, and structured fund-raising activities.
“Whatever modality is chosen, the SDC bears a fiduciary duty to present a detailed, auditable budget before any funds are collected and to provide termly financial statements dedicated specifically to the bus project, including copies of supplier quotations, invoices, and bank statements, at every Annual General Meeting. The days of collecting money for four years without giving parents a concrete timeline or a single audited figure must come to an immediate end.
“The ministry is fully aware that the root of community discontentment is rarely the bus itself. Investigations by the ministry and its anti-corruption partners have repeatedly uncovered cases in which buses that landed in Zimbabwe for sums well below US$90 000 were invoiced to schools at figures approaching double that amount, with the difference fuelling private gain,” said Mr Ndoro.
On the aspect of parent or guardian payment methods and processes, a parent with a child at Dangare Primary School, who spoke on condition of anonymity, highlighted the need for parents to be involved in coming up with figures that are affordable and acceptable to all.
“It is sad that the figures they are giving us to pay have not been agreed by everyone involved. Even the price itself is exorbitant. To some of us it is clear that someone or a group of people want to make an extra dollar out of this project,” she said.
Thus, Mr Ndoro said parents or guardians’ anger is understandable.
“When parents see such glaring disparities, and when they observe a state-of-the-art bus being paraded while their children still lack desks, textbooks, and adequate sanitation, their anger is both understandable and justified. This anger turns to outrage when a bus procured with community savings is hired out for private functions without the express consent of the parents. Such actions are a gross abuse of office and a violation of the trust placed in school authorities,” he said.
Mr Ndoro further highlighted that the ministry will not hesitate to dissolve any SDC that fails to account for bus funds.
“In light of these challenges, the ministry encourages school bus procurement to go through the e-GP system. The hiring out of a school bus for any activity not directly related to the curricular or officially sanctioned co-curricular programme of the school should be assessed thoroughly unless a resolution is passed by a simple majority of parents in a properly constituted meeting and the proceeds are fully accounted for in the school’s books. When these principles are honoured, a bus purchase will be celebrated as a shared victory for the entire school community. Until that culture of transparency and accountability takes firm root, the ministry will use every legal instrument at its disposal to protect the resources of parents and the educational rights of every child,” he said.
