Fake school head

Phyllis Kachere on 05 October, 2009 02:35:00
 
IN a case that has exposed loopholes in the management of schools by the
education authorities, a daring teacher imposed himself as acting headmaster of
St Joseph’s High School (Mqabuko High School) in Matabeleland South before
defrauding the learning institution out of more than US$1 600 and R3 000 in
tuition fees and levies.
Henessy Dube claimed that the parent Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and
Culture had transferred him from St Columba’s High School in Bulawayo to
become the substantive deputy head of St Joseph’s High, which did not have a
head at the time.
He later took charge of the school on July 29 this year and immediately assumed
control of the safe and strong room. A senior official in the Matabeleland South
education directorate confirmed the case, saying Dube’s defective transfer
came to light after ministry staffers noticed that his papers were not
authentic.
It was also discovered that the relevant authorities had not sanctioned his
take-over of the administration of the school. The official said the fake
headmaster was arrested last month, but later escaped from police custody.
“Henessy Dube took advantage of the fact that when he arrived at St
Joseph’s, there were only eight out of an establishment of 31 teachers and
there was no substantive school head,” said the official in an interview last
Friday.
“He claimed that since he was coming in as substantive deputy head, he was the
only senior person to assume full administration of the school.
“No handover-takeover procedure was conducted when he took over the keys to
the safe and strong room.”
Meanwhile, two school development committee members and two clerks at Sanyati
Baptist High School in Mashonaland West were last week arrested for
misappropriating fees and levies at the school.
Allegations are that on April 23 this year, school development committee
treasurer Mr G. T. Rukainga bought a safe on behalf of the school at a cost of
R400.
He allegedly tampered with the receipt and made it read R1 400 before claiming
reimbursement four days later. Committee secretary Mr Mudzanire received US$5
000 to pay several service providers. He, however, allegedly settled one bill of
US$1 000 and embezzled the remainder.
Members of the committee also allegedly paid themselves hefty sums of money in
sitting allowances as well as travel and subsistence claims. Sources said the
two clerks who were also nabbed failed to account for the US$1 187 they
receipted between January and March. The sources said the net was closing in on
corrupt heads and development committee members.
They said arrest and disciplinary action await, among others, the head and
chairman of Zimre Primary School in Mashonaland East who both allegedly
misappropriated more than US$3 000.
The head allegedly failed to account for US$2 300 and has since repaid almost
US$200 to offset the embezzled amount. His chairman, on the other hand, failed
to account for US$1 289.
In the largest haul so far, a clerk at Matinunura High School in Gweru is unable
to account for US$50 000 while the head and school committee could not account
for US$6 162.
Police confirmed they were pursuing such cases with a view to bringing the
culprits to book. The Deputy Minister of Education, Sports, Art and Culture, Cde
Lazarus Dokora, also castigated school committees for seeking self-enrichment.
He said they should not award themselves sitting allowances as their services
are purely voluntary.
“Parents must report such members who pay themselves allowances or claim
travel costs as their services should be on a voluntary basis,” he said.

Promoting women economic empowerment

Promoting women empowerment

Deputy News Editor Phyllis Kachere

NOVEMBER 27 2007 is the day mother of four and communal farmer Mrs Tendai Marere (39) from the Nyamaropa area in Shamva says completely changed her life.

"This is the day I received farming implements from the Government. This is the day that I received a plough plus chain and sprayer for my cotton crop. This is the day my nightmares and worries about how I will till my fields come rains, evaporated. This is the day I stopped being dependent on my in-laws for use of their plough. I can’t describe how I feel now.

"I am a widow and all along I have been dependent on my in-laws for support each time the rains came. But this time, thanks to the Government, I have become capable of tilling my own fields using my own plough. Now look at how healthy my maize, cotton, soya beans, groundnuts crop is and compare that with the lower yields I used to receive before," she said.

This is the day that Government’s Phase Two farm mechanisation initiative became a reality to not only Mrs Marere’s family, but to four other families in Shamva’s Ward 10 Reza village, whose heads became the proud beneficiaries of the programme.

"We are overjoyed with the plough that my daughter-in-law received from Government. This shows we have a Government that listens and cares for its people. Where would she find the billions to buy the plough and the sprayer? She is just a widow. My son is now late. The President must be thanked. Please convey our gratitude to him," chipped in her father-in-law, Sekuru Misheck Marere.

Mrs Marere said the new farming implements she received have removed pressure on her in-laws’ implements, which she also relied on.

"Because of my new implements I have managed to increase my hectarage from my previous. This year I have put four hectares under maize, one hectare under cotton, two hectares for groundnuts, one for soya beans and an acre for roundnuts and sunflower. I have a healthy crop and I am expecting to make more money from my produce. My only worry is the poor price offered by GMB for my maize crop," she said.

She said after being vetted from a pool of 45 other communal farmers who had applied to receive the implements, she feels obliged to work hard and show Government that its effort was not in vain.

"When the programme started, we rushed to submit our names to our village heads and our village ended up with 45 applicants. The names were returned with the advice that they should be reduced to only five deserving farmers per ward.

"The village assembly, which comprises of all members in the village, met and voted. We all agreed the implements would only go to those who have proved their farming capabilities and not chancers. In other wards we heard there was commotion as only village heads and other village officers received the implements. But that was not the case here. We only selected our best farmers," said another villager, Mr Chirezi Mbulawa.

Mrs Marere said she was not surprised when she won as she together with her in-laws are known serious farmers in their area.

"It was good that they rewarded real farmers. Now we have the task of fulfilling Government’s objective of producing food for the whole nation. It’s just that our fields are getting too small for our capacity. I am sure now we qualify for an A2 farm," said Mrs Marere.

She said with her farm produce, she has managed to send her three children to school and no longer depended on her in-laws’ farming implements.

"As a widow, I have relied on my in-laws for financial support for the upkeep of my four boys. But now I tell you, that has completely changed. I can plough on time and look after my family without depending on handouts. Hurumende yadzinga nhamo mumba mangu. (The Government has chased poverty out of my household.) It is a dream come true for an ordinary villager to receive such a plough," said Mrs Marere.

She said she and the other woman who received a similar plough would soon engage in training other women in their ward to become more successful farmers and hopes to start a poultry project with proceeds from the sale of her crops.

Observers have noted that Government’s farm mechanisation programme would help it meet its targets on Millennium Development Goals one and three which commits it to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, and promote gender equality and empower women by 2015.

Wrong Plot:pupils study wrong texts

Pupils study wrong setbooks

By Phyllis Kachere
FOR the second consecutive year, literature students at Mabelreign Girls'
High School in Harare are waiting to sit for their public examinations after
studying the wrong set books.

In what must surely be an unprecedented administrative oversight, 19
Advanced Level candidates are at risk of failing next month's examinations
after they were made to read Caribbean literature instead of African
literature.

The Sunday Mail could not establish which textbooks they read for the
Caribbean literature.

The African literature setbooks they were supposed to have read are
Ancestors by Chenjerai Hove, A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o and A Man
of the People by Chinua Achebe.

Although some of the affected students and teachers at the school confirmed
to this reporter that they had indeed studied the wrong setbooks, the senior
mistress who was in charge at the school on Friday maintained all was well.

The school's headmistress was said to be away when The Sunday Mail visited
the school on Friday afternoon.

The regional director for Harare, Mr Thomax Dhobha, did not reply to
messages left at his office, while the Ministry of Education, Sport and
Culture's permanent secretary, Dr Stephen Mahere, did not answer calls to
his mobile phone.

Neither did he respond to messages left at his office.

The anomaly was discovered at the beginning of this term and it is believed
that a neighbouring school offered the school the correct textbooks and some
study material.

It is not clear how the students ended up studying the wrong books when a
syllabus is available and the school has a head of department who is
supposed to ensure that the right syllabus is followed.

This is not the first time Mabelreign Girls' High School has been in the
news for making students study the wrong books for literature examinations.

Last year, some 40 Ordinary Level students who were supposed to have read
Waiting for the Rain by Charles Mungoshi and I Will Marry When I Want by
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, ended up studying Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe,
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Twelfth Night by William
Shakespeare. Parents of the concerned students who talked to The Sunday Mail
were angry at the developments.

They complained that their children had been made to study the wrong books
for two years running but were now expected to study the correct books in
less than a month.

Back to the Top

New Constitution: Women lobby for dual citizenship

New Constitution: Women lobby for dual citizenship

By Phyllis Kachere
Zimbabwe Sunday Mail

WHAT was expected to be an everlasting union has turned into a nightmare for young Alice Ndare (not her real name) who married her Yugoslav boyfriend and relocated to his country in 2004.

As per tradition, Alice immediately assumed her husband’s citizenship.
Dual citizenship is prohibited in her new domicile and this meant renouncing her Zimbabwean citizenship.

One child and four years later, the marriage hit rocky times, resulting in her husband filing for divorce.

Recently, Alice approached the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers’ Association (ZWLA) to seek assistance in the divorce case and in reclaiming her Zimbabwean citizenship.

Without an income and social support in Yugoslavia, life has become a challenge for her. “The husband for whom I renounced my Zimbabwean citizenship has ditched me,” she said.

“All the friends I made in Yugoslavia were through him. Sadly, most of them have now abandoned me because of the fallout I had with my husband.

“Now I am stuck with his citizenship but without him and without social support.”

ZWLA advocacy manager Ms Thoko Thabete said Zimbabwean women were lobbying for dual citizenship to be incorporated under the new constitution.

“Ms Ndare is not alone in this situation. Because of the economic challenges that forced most young Zimbabweans into the Diaspora, many of our young women have found love outside Zimbabwe and some have married foreigners,” said Ms Thabete.

“We all know situations change. When things go wrong, it is usually women and children who become victims.

“That is why there is this strong lobby by women for dual citizenship and the right for them to pass on their citizenship to their children and spouses.”

In reference to Ms Ndare’s case she said:

“In such a situation, Ms Ndare no longer has the previous strong ties with Yugoslavia because her marriage is on the rocks and divorce is likely to be granted,” she said.

“The tragedy of the matter is Ms Ndare is regarded as a citizen of Yugoslavia, a country to which her husband was the only one binding her to it.

“With the husband gone, Ms Ndare’s ties to Yugoslavia have weakened. But had she been allowed to keep her Zimbabwean citizenship, she simply would have come home.”

Ms Thabete said citizenship allowed one to enjoy consular protection when in a foreign country.

“Ms Ndare cannot seek consular protection from the Zimbabwean embassy in Yugoslavia because she is regarded a local, but at the same time she is failing to access social programmes because of a language barrier,” she said.

She added that while politicians disapprove of dual citizenship, the positives on the social side outweigh the political negatives.

In terms of the current Zimbabwean Constitution, a person who is married to a Zimbabwean and has been ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe for at least five years since the marriage is entitled on application to become a Zimbabwean citizen by registration.

This amendment was effected by Act number 1/2009.

Prior to this amendment, a woman married to a Zimbabwean citizen was entitled to apply for citizenship by registration.

However, a man married to a Zimbabwean woman did not have the same entitlements. This issue was brought to court in the Rattigan citizenship case.

According to the Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) the old position meant women did not have to wait for five years.

It seems as if when women challenged this position vis-a-vis their foreign husbands, the law in its “majestic neutrality” decided to create similar conditions.

There have been these allegations that some foreign men marry Zimbabwean women just to get citizenship and they go on to dump them after attaining it.

WLSA has also recommended that: “Women must have the same right to acquire and pass on Zimbabwean citizenship as men.

“Article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) recommends that women and men should have equal rights in terms of citizenship.”

Ms Thabete said spouses of Zimbabwean women should have the same rights of residence and/or citizenship as those of Zimbabwean men.

Article 8 (5) of the Sadc Protocol on Gender and Development states that parties shall put in place legislative provisions that ensure married women and men have the right to choose whether to retain their nationality or acquire that of their spouse.

Du Toit, the rhino messiah

Friday, 06 May 2011 20:28 Features

Rhino messiah . . . 2011 recipient of the Goldman Environment Prize for Africa, Raoul du Toit.

By Phyllis Kachere
“CONSERVING rhinos saves much more than the rhino themselves — they are flagships for biodiversity and for national development based upon sustainable wildlife management in Africa,”  says Raoul du Toit
Recently awarded the Goldman Environment Prize for Africa for 2011 in recognition of his rhino conservation activities in Zimbabwe, Du Toit strongly believes in community involvement and awareness for effective rhino conservation.
Du Toit, director of the Lowveld Rhino Trust, received US$150 000 as prize money that will be channelled towards supporting his vision and conservation activities. 
Five other such prizes were awarded, during two recent ceremonies in the United States, to environmentalists from other regions of the world.
One of the ceremonies was held at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington on April 13 and attended by Zimbabwe’s representative in Washington, Ambassador Machivenyika Mapuranga, who congratulated Du Toit on behalf of the Government.
US President Barack Obama also congratulated Du Toit and the five other award winners when they met him at the White House on the same day.
In an interview with Sunday In-Depth at his offices in Harare, Du Toit said the award would bring international attention to the rhino conservation movement in Zimbabwe.
“It is a mixed situation because on the one hand there are now more rhinos in the Lowveld region than there has been for over a century, but on the other hand the poaching onslaught is intensifying and there can be no room for complacency,” he said.
According to figures recently released by the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Zimbabwe has a national total of nearly 430 black rhinos and about 290 white rhinos. 
There is still a long way to go before the black rhino population can recover to its previous total of about 1 500 in the late 1980s.
“In the Lowveld region of Zimbabwe, despite major poaching pressures, there are now more rhinos than at any other time over the past 100 years,” said Du Toit.
“This shows that it is worth fighting the battle to save rhinos because we really can win it, and we need some species success stories to encourage us in the broader campaign to conserve biodiversity.”
The award given to Du Toit was in recognition of the efforts of his team in the Lowveld Rhino Trust, which is supported by international conservation groups such as the International Rhino Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund, Save Foundation and Save the Rhino International.
Private rhino custodians have also been bearing high costs of rhino protection.
Asked why he focused on rhino conservation, Du Toit explained:
“Rhinos are as modern in evolutionary terms as we are and are socially more complex than is generally believed,” he said.
“They are superbly adapted to a wide range of African habitats, from deserts to forests. They don’t carry diseases that can be transmitted to livestock, and they don’t eat farmers’ crops.
“They look after themselves and can double their population within 10 years if we just leave them alone.
“Rhinos are a true umbrella or flagship species, since the conservation of rhinos and their habitats ensures that a lot of other biodiversity is conserved at the same time.”

Survivor . . . The rhino that survived the crude hacksawing of its horn by poachers last month in the Lowveld.

Du Toit said rhinos were proud symbols of Africa’s natural heritage and a major attraction for tourism, which is one of Africa’s economic pillars.
During the early 1990s, the Lowveld Rhino Project was established with its funding coming initially from the Beit Trust. At that stage, the Lowveld held only 4 percent of Zimbabwe’s rhinos, whereas it now holds 80 percent of the national population of rhinos. 
This is equivalent to over 7 percent of the global population of the critically endangered black rhino species. 
Much of the conservation efforts in recent years have involved moving rhinos from less secure areas to more secure areas within the Lowveld, and taking aggressive action against poachers.
Du Toit said credit for the action against poachers is largely due to the efforts of the police and other law enforcement agencies.
“Poachers operate in syndicates like hard-core, well-armed bank robbers,” he said. 
“They mount hit-and-run attacks and fight back with their firearms if they are tackled by anti-poaching patrols.”
An upsurge in rhino poaching was seen from 2007, with at least 300 rhinos being poached in Zimbabwe since then.
Du Toit and other conservationists believe that this upsurge in poaching is directly linked to a greater Asian presence in Africa, since the main market for the horns is within Asian countries whose communities believe that the horns have medicinal properties.
Vietnam has been identified by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) as the Asian country importing most of the horn, even though that is illegal in that country.
A number of Vietnamese took advantage of weak controls on the safari hunting of white rhinos in South Africa and pretended to be hunting rhinos for sport, but instead of taking the horns as hunting trophies they were taking them to sell on the illegal market. This created new market demand, which in turn helped drive the poaching of rhinos.
South Africa has been losing approximately one rhino a day to poaching gangs. 
Since the national rhino population in South Africa is over 20 000, this rate of loss is sustainable at present, unlike in Zimbabwe where every poached rhino adds to the decline of the national population.
“We have good cops and bad cops,” said Du Toit. “Some of them are working tirelessly and professionally to hunt down poachers whereas some other policemen and soldiers, in the minority, have actually been poaching rhinos.”
Even when the poachers are arrested, conservationists like Du Toit complain that the courts have been dealing with them sternly at times and at other times have been letting them off on technicalities or for other questionable reasons.
“These discrepancies cause great international concern about Zimbabwe’s conservation effort and its obligations under treaties such as Cites,” he said.
As an example of effective action, Du Toit cited the arrest of two rhino poachers in the Chipinge Safari Area on April 17.
“Within a week, these poachers were each sentenced by a Masvingo magistrate to 10 years in jail plus three years on weapon charges for possession of an AK rifle,” said Du Toit.
“But in another case, poachers who have been caught with heavy calibre firearms fitted with illegal silencers have not been sentenced on the same weapons charges.”
Conservation NGOs were horrified by a poaching case in Save Valley Conservancy in early April, when a black rhino bull was shot four times and had its horns hacked off its face, while it was still alive, leaving a bloody wound.
The rhino has miraculously survived despite these injuries.
In co-operation with the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, the Lowveld Rhino Trust has ensured that it receives veterinary treatment.
At the time of this incident, four men were arrested in Chiredzi, with a silencer-fitted heavy-calibre rifle, far from their home area of Beitbridge.  
The two men were subsequently released and are yet to be charged.
“Cases such as this are now watched closely by the conservation NGOs,” said Du Toit.
“We cannot tolerate any lack of effort or suspicion of corruption when the war against poachers has to be fought on all fronts, by everyone.”
To bring local communities onto the side of those who are protecting rhinos, the Lowveld Rhino Trust intends to use its cash award from the Goldman Environmental Prize to expand a scheme through which local communities can become shareholders in rhino breeding projects, through public-private-community partnerships.
“Returns from rhino breeding for the communities would be provided in the form of direct support for local schools, in proportion to the growth of rhino populations in wildlife areas that they live next to,” said Du Toit.
“This will include a major environmental education effort. This scheme was launched in the Lowveld by Minister Nhema in 2006 but we have lacked resources to fully implement it. 
“Now, with the Goldman award funding, we can give full emphasis to this need to make rhinos relevant to rural people and to give the incentives for these people to help us fight poachers.”-The Sunday Mail

Chikombedzi's child brides

Sunday, 27 March 2011 00:15 Features

Catch them young . . . Primary schoolchildren in class at Alpha Mphapha Primary School in Chikombedzi.

By Phyllis Kachere in Malipati, Chiredzi
POVERTY and the Shangaan cultural practice of “kudzanira”, which initiates girls into womanhood, is driving parents in areas around Hlengwe, Gezani and Chikombedzi that border Mozambique and South Africa, to marry off girls as young as 13.
Chiredzi district, situated in the southeastern part of Zimbabwe, is home to the majority of the Shangaan people in Zimbabwe.
So severe are the school dropouts that also coincide with the Shangaan girls’ graduation from the “chikomba” (woman initiation) in July or August that some schools are left with a few or no girls in their Grade Seven classes when they open for the third term.
Although lobola is not fixed, the brides fetch as much as    20 000 rand and six head of cattle.
Mr Benedict Mawire, headmaster of Phahlela Primary School in Matibi, had astonishing figures of girls who drop out of school to get married.
“In 2007, the Grade Seven class had 13 girls but by the third term only one girl was attending school. In 2008 we had 26 girls doing Grade Seven but after the initiation ceremony only two came back to school.
The year 2009 was no different. We had 23 girls before kudzanira and only three girls came back to school after the graduation,” he said.
Headman Hanyani Zava Mphapha explained that according to the Shangaan tradition, the initiation process for the girls is done at the onset of puberty, which usually starts around 12 years old.
“Shangaan girls have to be initiated at the onset of puberty. This is usually done during June/July. I cannot go into details about the curriculum but I can confirm that it involves sex education and the duties and responsibilities that come with womanhood. This is where they are prepared for marriage,” said Headman Mphapha.
Although school heads at Muhlekwani and Makhanani primary schools in Matibi II could not provide statistics, they confirmed that they had also suffered similar haemorrhages with regard to Grade Seven girls soon after “they became women”.
“The pattern is the same every year. Soon after kudzanira, we expect to lose Grade Seven girls as most get married soon after the ceremony. Most of them get married to majonijoni, a term used to describe local Shangaan men who work in nearby South Africa and Mozambique.
“Because of the proximity of both Mozambique and South Africa to our school some men from these countries also come and marry these young girls. We have watched painfully as the girls leave school for marriage,” said Mr Felex Ndlovu, who heads Muhlekweni School.
Makhanani and other schools in the area have also not been spared as confirmed by school head Mr Wilson Dheimani.
“It is difficult to separate the girls’ flight from school from kudzanira. Soon after the initiation of girls, classes are emptied of girls,” said Mr Dheimani. 
The situation at Chiumburu Primary School near Triangle is dire, forcing the school head to appeal to both the police and education authorities to conduct joint awareness campaigns.
“I had to appeal to the police and senior education authorities to conduct joint awareness campaigns to force parents to allow their children to come to school. The girls have just stopped coming to school,” said the school head who declined to be named. 
According to the Shangaan tradition, the headman said, soon after graduation, the girls are required to tie red bandanas around their heads to make them recognisable as the “new women”.
The red bandanas distinguish and show they are ready for womanhood and marriage but it is this “advertisement” that has become the girls’ curse for they become easy targets for early marriage.
“After graduation the girls are eager to find suitors and the red bandanas provide easy identification. And once on the market, there is stiff competition, resulting in the youngsters marrying off at those early ages.
“Within a year after graduation, a traditional Shangaan girl should be able to find a suitor and get married. Because of competition, one cannot afford to stay for too long on the market. That’s our tradition,” said 76-year-old Mrs Ketsiya Randalani from Chief Chilonga’s area.
Masvingo Provincial Education Director Mrs Clara Dube confirmed that Chiredzi district, home to the majority of the Shangaan people, has suffered worrying school dropouts during the transition from primary to secondary school.
“There are worrying trends of school dropouts of both boys and girls during the transition from primary to secondary in Chiredzi district. For example, in 2009 there were                  2 660 girls who sat for Grade Seven examinations but only 1 440 proceeded to secondary school the following year.
“Of the 2 455 boys doing Grade Seven in 2009, only 1 252 proceeded to Form One. We are not sure where the dropouts have gone to,” said Mrs Dube in an interview with The Sunday Mail.
Some educationists have suggested engaging the traditional leadership in the hope of delaying the initiation of schoolgirls until at least they reach 18 years.-The Sunday Mail

Who is Chibhebhi?

Phyllis Kachere

Phyllis Kachere is deputy news editor at the The Sunday Mail in Zimbabwe, which she joined in 2001 as a junior reporter and later served as senior reporter before reaching her present position. She began her mainstream media career as an  HIV/AIDS junior reporter in the late 1990s. For Phyllis, after losing two sisters to AIDS, reporting on the subject has stopped being just a news story. Armed with a social science degree, she started out as an information officer in the Zimbabwean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and moved on to mainstream media where she briefly worked for the then Zimbabwe Inter Africa News Agency in 1999. Phyllis was the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists HIV/AIDS Reporter for the years 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. She has also been awarded the Union of Catholic Press International Award for HIV/AIDS Reporting for 2007