Martin Muleya
BUHERA-Parents at Hande high school in Buhera district are on collision course with school authorities and the School Development Committee (SDC) over the delayed release of the institution’s 2025 audit report.
The delay has reportedly triggered divisions among parents, with rival camps accusing each other of shielding individuals allegedly opposed to the release of the audit findings and recommendations.
Buhera Rural District Council (BRDC) Chief Executive Officer Ishmael Jachi confirmed that the 2025 audit report was yet to be released.
“I will advise once the audit team has completed its findings and recommendations,” Jachi told this publication in a telephone interview.
Asked when the 2025 audit findings were expected, Jachi only said they would be released ‘soon’ without providing a specific date.
However, a camp of parents fronted by Biggy Chiranga dismissed the suggestion that the current dispute was solely about the delayed 2025 audit report, arguing that some parents were confusing the 2024 audit report with the 2025 audit process.
“The one circulating in our social groups is the one SDC chairperson and his disciples are not understanding, from the audit report of 2024. This is the one causing a hive of confusion as it is causing mayhem on social media platforms,” Chiranga said.
Chiranga confirmed that BRDC auditors visited the school last month to audit the 2025 books.
He however, maintained that some parents were failing to appreciate the implications of recommendations contained in the 2024 audit report.
The dispute has therefore widened beyond the timing of the latest audit, with parents demanding clarity on whether the recommendations made following the previous audit were implemented and whether the school’s financial affairs were being properly accounted for.
Hande High SDC chairperson Blessing Manyenga said he was also waiting for the auditors to present their findings and recommendations.
Manyenga said auditors had initially assured him that they would hold an exit meeting with the SDC, but he was unable to attend at the proposed time because of work commitments.
“I then proposed another date to meet, but they did not turn up. I am still waiting for their findings and recommendations so that we can work within those recommendations as the current SDC,” Manyenga noted.
He also acknowledged that he had heard informally that the audit findings would soon be released although no formal communication had been made to him.
“We are pushing for the 2025 audit findings so that we can have a clear picture of what is obtaining at the school,” Manyenga said.
The competing narratives have left parents divided, with one camp demanding the immediate release of the audit findings while another insists that the 2024 audit report and its recommendations should first be properly understood and acted upon before anything new is done.
