Wenslus Murape
Gilbert Munetsi
THE whistleblower, who lifted the lid on the shenanigans of six students, who had booked themselves at a lodge in Chitungwiza with the intention to engage in sexual acts, is a former head boy at one of the schools where some of the students are enrolled.
The whistleblower is the taxi driver who took the students to the lodge last week.
It has now been revealed that he used to be the head boy at one of the schools where some of the students are enrolled.
Three girls from Excel College and three boys from Pathway last week decided to bunk classes and proceed to the lodge for sexual acts.
It has since emerged that two of the girls met their partners for the first time on that fateful day.
The dates could have been arranged by the other students.
One of the six, aged 19, has since been taken into police custody to assist with investigations while the girls were referred for medical examinations before being released into their parents’ custody.
Investigations have revealed that one of the girls may have had sex with her partner.
Police last week confirmed the arrest of Royal Guest Lodge employee, Christabel Muchemwa, 36, for allowing the students to book rooms at the lodge even though the majority were under-age.
The principal of one of the two colleges yesterday said in a recorded statement they have committed to providing emotional guidance, as a short-term measure, to help the children’s parents get over the trauma they may have experienced as a result of these shock developments.
“They (parents) are heart-broken but it has to be reiterated that it’s neither their fault nor ours that this happened.
“The children did not escape from the college premises and so they were not in our jurisdiction.
“They actually left their homes purporting to be attending school, which in our case begins at 7:30am.
“Unbeknown to us all, they had other plans and we were to later learn the whole episode had been orchestrated by a 19-year old Pathway College scholar, in cahoots with two other compatriots, who attend the same school.
“Naturally, this trio becomes the accused because they paid the lodge fees,” the statement says.
The shenanigans were exposed by the taxi driver who happens to have been a former head boy at one of the schools.
“After he had dropped them at the lodge, he rushed to notify us of the development because as a former student of ours, he is privy to our time tables and disciplinary ethos.
“Because we understood we had no right to budge into the lodge to extract our children, and in respect of the law and for fear of dragging our brand into disrepute, we decided to notify the police first.
“In other words we avoided taking a position we would have later regretted and we put the protection, safety and future of our girls first, while our brand only came second.
“We are happy the police’s response was prompt and a raid was conducted leading to the arrest of an employee of the lodge.
“I want to dismiss reports doing rounds on social media that this was a sex party…even the ZRP on its X handle never mentioned the names of our schools for purposes of protecting the children.”
He added:
“To our surprise, it’s now in the public domain who we are and who they may be. This is against both the constitution of our country and the Education Act which both speak to the protection of children.
“It’s unfortunate the media has gone into a frenzy and the matter has been so popularised it’s a discussion you’d find during meal time and everywhere.”
He said at a time when both the school system and the community at large are battling the scourge of drugs, it was high time the focus shifted from selfishly wanting to soil a school image for the benefit of another. Meanwhile, the parents of the students are today expected to attend a trauma-healing counseling session.
Sources told H-Metro yesterday that personnel from organisations, which offer such counseling services, have been engaged to help the parents.According to information available to H-Metro, there are also plans to carry out a public campaign aimed at discouraging lodges from booking under-age clients.
Online Reporter