Tendai Charumbira
Three Gokomere schools officials who were arrested last year on allegations of embezzling school funds appeared in court on April 10, 2022, after which it was postponed to May 13, 2022.
The three accused appeared before magistrate Farai Gwitima.
CPS head Mhangarai Celestino Masakadza (50), Gokomere High deputy head Cephas Vhurumuku and Priest in Charge John Magadzire (40) are being represented by Collen Maboke of Ruvengo and Maboke Legal practitioners who argued that Gokomere is run by Roman Catholic Church and is not a government school hence mismanagement of school funds should have been reported by the Roman Catholic Church.
He also argued that parents who were paying school fees made the report but not even one parent came to testify as there was no School Development Committee (SDC) because it was during Covid-19.
The State represented by Noel Mandebvu said the accused persons in May 2021 made payment transactions through ZB bank debt card with no payment vouchers, invoices or receipts amounting to ZW$1 4477 373 and an audit done in May 2021 showed massive corrupt dealings of unsupported receipts.
The audit also revealed that the school’s fourth account held by Standard Chartered bank in the name of John Magadzire received ZW$ 1 722 697 in levies but a total of ZW$ 1 456 062 was spent on non-school related transactions.
The accused persons allegedly did not elect a SDC thereby violating statutory instrument 87 of 1992 Section 8 (1) that requires the election of SDCs by parents at every Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The trio was dragged to court alongside Gokomere High School head Acquanos Mazhunga and Alex Mawaya sometime last year following Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC)’s intervention after parents with children at the learning institution approached them.
