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Crime Reporter
Courtney Selous Primary School head, his deputy and bursar have been arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) on allegations of stealing more than US$67 000.
The school is in Greendale, Harare.
lan Simbarashe Tsuro is the head, while Crispen Manjoro is the deputy and Pepukai Sanangurai is the bursar.
The suspects have since appeared in court facing charges of criminal abuse of duty as public officers.
Allegations against the trio are that between January 2023 and May 2024, they connived to steal school funds amounting to US$67 108 through under banking.
The development comes as the school came under fire from parents and guardians in May, who were accusing the school administration of financial mismanagement.
This resulted in parents storming the school and disrupted lessons as they clashed with Tsuro over allegations of maladministration.
There were also claims that some financial documents were about to be taken out of the school without the approval of the district education officer.
The School Development Committee (SDC) then wrote a letter dated May 9, 2024 to the District Schools Inspector, Mr Godfrey Chimbwanda, of the Mabvuku-Tafara District Harare, complaining about the abuse of office and misappropriation of funds by the school’s administration.
In the letter, SDC chairperson, Mr Owen Goto, said they wanted a thorough audit to be carried to strengthen their suspicions.
The letter was also copied to parents, Courtney Selous Primary School, the provincial education director Harare Province, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and ZACC chairperson, Mr Michael Reza, and Tsuro.
“I write to you on behalf of the School Development Committee for Courtney Selous Primary School which assumed office in April 2024. Upon assuming office, we have discovered that the school administration could have committed various offences before we assumed office.
“So far, we have discovered the following: flouting of procurement procedures in the purchase of goods and services, inflating prices of goods and services for personal gain, forgery of procurement documents, misappropriation of funds, neglect of duty and flouting of standard operating procedures,” said Mr Goto.
He said it was their intention to carry out a thorough audit, which will fortify their suspicions and for that to happen they needed Mr Chimbwanda’s assistance to ensure there was no interference in the process.
“To that end, we kindly request that you notify in writing, the staff members of the school of our intention to carry out an audit, implore the staff members not to interfere, directly or indirectly, with the audit process and implore the relevant staff members to cooperate with the auditors that we are going to engage,” said Mr Goto.
“It is pertinent that we indicate that the district accountant, one Mr Binha, is already interfering with the matter under the false pretext that he has been assigned by the Office of the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to investigate the issues subject to our complaint, a position which the said office denied.
“On this basis alone, we would request that the audit be done by independent auditors selected by the office of the Provincial Education Director since we feel that your office is already compromised in this case.
“We want to indicate that we are taking this matter seriously as it has far reaching consequences on the affairs and status of the school. We therefore request that you treat the matter with the urgency it deserves,” read the letter.
Online Reporter