Online Reporter
Samuel Kadungure
News Editor
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is moving swiftly to charge hundreds of school heads in Manicaland after investigative audits dating back to 2022 exposed widespread abuse of funds, resources, and violations of financial regulations, The Manica Post can reveal.
Audit query letters from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion — dated May 13, 2026, and addressed to the Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education — detail a disturbing pattern of unapproved levies, missing documentation, weak internal controls, and governance failures within School Development Committees across the province.
The letters, copied to senior officials including the Deputy Accountant General, Chief Accountant, Auditor General, and Chief Internal Auditor, demanded “detailed responses of corrective measures taken or to be taken” by June 30, 2026.
With the deadline looming, the ministry has begun decisive action, signalling the start of a reckoning for implicated school heads whose mismanagement has undermined learning, diverted public resources, and eroded parental trust.
Auditors deployed to several schools have uncovered rampant misuse of funds and resources, recommending criminal referrals and reimbursement in the same currency misappropriated.
A recent audit at Mweyamutsvene High School in Mutare District revealed that approximately US$320 000 was siphoned over a two-year period.
The school head allegedly resigned and went into hiding as the matter was about to be reported to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
This case is not isolated.
Several school administrations across Manicaland have been flagged for poor financial management practices, painting a troubling picture of systemic abuse that the ministry is now determined to confront head-on.
Some schools under scrutiny span districts, including Zamba Primary, Sakubva 1 High, Sakubva 2 High, Rowa Secondary, Mundenda Secondary, Elise Gledhill High, St Joseph’s Primary (Mutare), Chikanga Secondary, Mt Camel Primary, Nyahondo Primary School, St Jude’s Primary, Vengere High School, Mabvazuwa Primary School, Nyazura High School, and Sanzaguru High School, among others.
At Murambinda B Primary School in Buhera, internal auditors found a building levy collected in 2022 without ministry approval, and stakeholders excluded from cash withdrawals and staff recruitment decisions.
Unofficial accounting records were kept for project transactions, separate from the main school books.
SDC members were allegedly intimidated into signing payment vouchers by external forces, while the fuel register was poorly managed, and US$5 183,60 in expenditure had no supporting documents.
At Zamba Primary, auditors discovered that an Isuzu (Registration Number AAW 5615) bought on January 16, 2018 had no change of ownership; expenditure of US$3 549,76 lacked supporting documents; Toyota Hiace (GED 1404) was not available for inspection, and the SDC cashbook was improperly maintained.
At Sakubva 2 High, receipt books were not numbered continuously, safe keys were held by the bursar only, breaching dual control requirements, while SDC workers’ personal files lacked national identity cards and qualifications.
The broiler project stock control register was also poorly maintained, raising questions over inventory losses.
At Sakubva 1 High, from January 2023 to February 2026, the school collected unapproved fees of US$450 at an unofficial rate; Toyota Hilux single cab, and a six-classroom block were bought and constructed respectively without going to tender.
Three school vehicles had no Government registration plates, and there was no fuel control register for vehicles, making it impossible to verify fuel consumption against mileage.
At St Stephen’s Secondary, Makoni District, no asset register existed; assets were not branded with school ID codes; the poultry project was poorly managed, and SDC workers had no personal files, meaning their qualifications and backgrounds could not be verified.
At Rowa Secondary, Mutare District, the whereabouts of a duplicate strong-room key were unknown; expenditure of US$1 170,10 had no supporting documents, two SDC workers lacked personal files, and master receipt amounts did not tally with the cashbook, indicating possible under-banking or diversion of cash.
At Clare Secondary, Makoni District, duplicate strong-room key was again unaccounted for; master asset register and school projects register were poorly managed, while two SDC workers had no personal files.
The repetition of the strong-room key issue across schools, points to systemic disregard for asset security protocols.
At Mundenda Secondary, Mutasa District, 29 POTRAZ-donated laptops were stolen, with only four recovered; US$1 530 was paid to Sky Universe instead of Solar Hive, the company selected by the evaluation committee. A ZB transfer showed that the money went to one Ginya Chenjerai’s CABS Mutare branch, not Sky Universe, suggesting a deliberate diversion of procurement funds.
At Elise Gledhill High, a Toyota Regius vehicle was bought from one Tapiwa Museza without going to tender; cashbook was not properly maintained; goods and services were procured without three quotations, and there were no vehicle requisition forms for trips.
Some assets lacked ID codes or serial numbers. There were no records for the school’s “layers project”, and the tuckshop had no segregation of duties, allowing a single individual to handle cash, stock and records.
At Nyazura High School, a senior official failed to account for US$1 022, and on June 5, 2026, parents formally requested for the urgent convening of an Extraordinary General Meeting necessitated by several critical issues severely compromising the welfare, health and academic progress of their children, as well as the overall administration of the institution.
Audits identified root causes of school funds abuse as weak internal controls, including poor segregation of duties such as heads authorising and approving payments, limited accountability, inactive SDCs and parental oversight, capacity gaps due to untrained finance staff, and misinterpretation of guidelines, creating an environment in which funds could be misapplied without detection.
The audit reports were distributed to stakeholders – Ministry of Finance, Auditor-General and Audit Committee – and because findings remained unresolved – the Accountant-General is now following up for implementation or remediation.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is at risk of being denied funds from Treasury for allegedly failing to account for these public resources, hence the ministry is now taking action against the implicated heads.
Manicaland Chief Director for Education Services, Mr Richard Gabaza confirmed the latest swoop.
“It is not like we were instructed to charge them. We are simply responding to the audit findings. If the audit report is adverse, and requires the member to respond, then members must be put to their defence as dictated by policy to explain before a hearing how they used the money. We are simply implementing the policy, and not dictating anything.
“Whenever a head is promoted, we take them through induction, and within our induction courses are components of financial management. We prepare them adequately for the office to manage finances as required by regulations. Education is managed through policy, so my advice is for all the personnel in the education sector to abide by regulations that govern operations in education. That is the long and short of it. Depending on the problem, and the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings, some are being fired, and others are being ordered to return the money. This is serious, and as I speak, I am at Rukweza High, on a joint monitoring visit to assess all aspects of school operations. I may not have statistical information at hand regarding those who have been sacked or ordered to return the funds, but, we just stick to the determination passed by the disciplinary hearing,” said Mr Gabaza.
He said the ministry has centralised procurement of high-value assets such as school buses, and is creating integrity committees to serve as internal oversight bodies promoting ethical conduct and preventing corruption.
“Procurement process is now being done through the e-GP, which is a Government procurement. No one is allowed to procure a bus or anything without going through that process. So, some of the noise is because people do not know. People make noise out of ignorance. No bus can be procured without going through the e-GP,” said Mr Gabaza.
