-beast bought for US$900
MIDWEEK REPORTER
CHIVHU-Parents at one of the best private schools near the farming town of Chivhu, Roman Catholic Church run St Francis of Assisi College are up in arms against the authorities over alleged misappropriation of funds among others.
According to parents who spoke to The Midweek Watch, St Francis of Assisi has no substantive head and the school committee put in place was removed six months after being elected in unclear circumstances.
They also allege embezzlement of funds through inflating of prices of goods and services.
“We elected School Development Committee at the beginning of the year but by June it had been removed under unclear circumstances and we suspect the authorities wanted to put in place people that they can easily manipulate.
“There are reports that a beast is being bought for as much as US$900 and one wonders what type a cattle is that, when there are cattle on the market that can cost US$250.
“Some of the jobs being contracted out can be done by general hand workers at the school, but we hear some people are being hired at inflated quotations,” said a fuming parent on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
When contacted for a comment the acting headmaster, Mr Mangara refuted the allegations and referred this reporter to George Machega of the Diocese of Harare, the responsible authority.
Efforts to talk t Machega were unsuccessful as his mobile number was not reachable until the time of posting the story.
There are also chats in our possession from parents who are bitter about the way the elite school is being run.
[7/21, 10:12] +263 : Umm zvapa chikoro Ichi AAA zvakaoma hazvo
[7/21, 10:14] +263 77 : Let’s take it up
[7/21, 10:16] GWT: Vakadzinga SDC kuti vadye mari. Mombe $900 US ye beaf. Humbavha huri pachena.
[7/21, 10:22] Assisi Parent S: Pakaipa ii
[7/21, 10:23] +263 77: So sad.
[7/21, 10:33] (Assisi Parent) S: Zvinorwadza kubisa Mari inoperera mumaoko emunhu apa tichikwidzirwa fees
[7/21, 10:37] Parent ): Mmmmmm vabereki taomerwa vana vedu ndovachasuffer nekuti mari iri kukurumidza kupera neinflated prices sure zvakaoma. Mombe iyo ye900 us ithree in one here
[7/21, 10:40] Parent ): Takavhoterei vabereki takazvitengesa zvedu . Tobva takwidza fees futi
[7/21, 10:50 since we dont have Headmaster everything is everywhere.
Among other charges that we heard is the issue relating to CBZ loan that the school took on June 6 2023 and the money was deposited into the school fees account instead of levy account where SDC members are signatories
We are told that the levy account is mainly for development issues which is the core function of the SDC committee.
Transactions in that account can be traced easily than school fees account l am sure that the move was intentionally meant to frustrate the proper function of the committee.
The school also bought a Combi and Truck at inflated prices. No SDC was in the procurement committee.
Nekuwanda kwaita motokari muZimbabwe wonzi Truck yakaita usd25 500 which is not new then Combi usd17 000 if you ask who did the quotations and why were the quotations not negotiated and dzakatengwa kupi unenge watoshata.
As much as we understand kuti chikoro chinevene vacho asi mari dzirikubva kwatiri vabereki and haisi kuwanika nyore. Further to this allegation is the brief of beef that is regularly bought at school as part of the ration, on average according to the records, invoices and receipts.
Each beast is costing usd900 to usd1000 which is on the higher side considering the price of beef on the market.
Ndichada kutoonawo mombe yacho kuti inenge inenyanga ngani.
There should be a sub committee inonotsvaga mombe especially on vacation timboonawo kuti hapangawanike dzeusd250 to usd350 considering outbreak iriko iyo kunana Chirumhanzu Bhuhera neMasvingo.
We also heard that around the end of June two withdrawals were simultaneously done usd3000 from levy account and usd5600 from the school fees account for the same obligations Transport charges
Stinking corruption on Anorak Jackets which the school sold for usd40 with the usd30 paid to the supplier whilst the usd10 was realized by the school the money was deposited into the school projects account whilst half of the payment was done through the levy account which does not make any business sense ukada kubvunza wonzi washata
On another note wages and salaries for casual labour rendered during school holidays was too high considering the nature of work that is nomally done eg unongonzwa zvonzi munhu akapihwa usd160 just kungowaridza 150m2 lawn pakatimbwa kare for less than 30min ukada kuhwisisa washata
The other worrisome issue is on projects l suggest we stop project yenguruve because it took us an arm and a leg to get half baked information
Negotiating with contractors after procurement….especially vasingazivikanwe neprocurement. Imagine Contractor complained about corruption in the meeting yekuti someone negotiated with the guys who painted form 1 and 2 block kuti siyanayi nacontractor wenyu because he is expensive tokupayi basa then imi mozondionawo. Asi hapana chakagadziriswa instead havachatoda kuona Contractor iyeye but he was doing a good job pachikoro zvanzi nokuti ndewekuHarare we want to promote local community
Tinomboedza kuti tigadzirisane pachedu but as long as pachikoro paye pasina Headmaster zvichangoramba zvakadaro
St Francis of Assisi is in Nharira near Chivhu Town and the former headmaster Mr Mbira retired leaving Mr Mangara as acting head.
