By Beverly Bizeki
A school head at Gomba Primary School in Gutu has left the community devastated after she buried two tonnes of maize meant to feed learners at the school after keeping the maize for four years.
The head, Varaidzo Tazvivinga is said to have kept the maize until it went bad since 2020 while school-going kids who were supposed to benefit from it were going hungry.
Gomba Primary School Development Committee (SDC) Chairperson Samson Chidya confirmed the incident and said upon being asked why she had buried the maize, Tazvivinga said it was attracting rats to the fowl run where it was being kept.
“The maize was brought to the school in 2020 for the school feeding programme but classes were later disturbed by Covid-19 lockdowns and children stopped coming to school. We had used only about a tonne and the remainder was kept at the school,” said Chidya.
He said the head later told them that the remainder was supposed to be taken back to the Department of Social Welfare since it had not been used, with the school being asked to raise funds for its transportation back, which the parents resisted.
“We then suggested that since the school had poultry projects, we could use the maize for those projects as we had two batches of chickens. We went on to use some of the maize there but I later heard that the school head had told the SDC vice chair about wanting to dig a compost pit at the school. Little did we know that it was meant for burying the much needed food,” said Chidya.
He went on to say the head hired someone who dug the compost pit and buried one tonne intending to bury another tonne the following day but the contracted guy told other villagers who then informed other parents.
Contacted for comment, the school head Varaidzo Tazvivinga said she could not comment, saying she was not allowed to speak over the phone before dropping the call.
“We are not allowed to speak over the phone,” said Tazvivinga.
Gutu District Schools Inspector (DSI) Ronald Muganhu said he was yet to establish what had transpired at the school as he had only came across the story on social media.
“I have only seen the story on social media and I am yet to establish how authentic it is thereafter we can do our own investigations,” said Muganhu.
“The matter came to light after the man who was contracted told other parents at a beer binge that he had buried maize at the school and will bury some more the following day. The concerned parents then notified Chief Mazuru.
Other sources who spoke to this publication said the school head is believed to have tried covering up for taking part of the maize for personal use without authorization after parents enquired about the maize.
“It was alleged that she had been using the maize to feed her own poultry project, hence burying the maize,” a local villager said.
Headman Mazuru born Mukandatsama Mazuru condemned the school head’s conduct and said it was retrogressive equating it to an indirect act of murder considering the drought-induced food scarcity.
“What the head did is totally unacceptable and this did not sit well with us as a community. Some families have no food but she had guts to bury maize in a compost, ndiko kutiurayira vanhu uku (that is like killing people).
“The government is helping vulnerable families yet someone is destroying grain. I do not know where this places her job as a teacher and school head because she is supposed to be looking after these children
“The maize could have been distributed to children from vulnerable families and this could have served the purpose, the worst part is that her answers were not satisfying when we asked her. Our plea is for the ministry to give us another head as we cannot be working with someone like this,” said Mazuru.
Gutu East ward 13 councilor Theresa Dhehwa said the head was supposed to have agreed with parents on what to do with the grain before it went bad.
“We saw the maize that had been buried in a compost and it had gone bad and could not be used neither for cooking nor poultry feeds. The school head should have sat down with the SDC to come up with a way forward.
“She probably wanted to clear the room in which the maize was stored because it was no longer edible, even the sacks in which the maize was stored had been worn out and this was probably because of rats,” said Dhehwa.
Gomba Primary has an enrolment of about 650 learners and according to some sources the school had received about five tonnes of maize. Learners are said to have had meals for a few days from the same programme.
The government and other development partners are currently on a drive to maintain high enrolment in schools against the ongoing El Nino drought by supplying food to schools in vulnerable communities.
According to the Department of Social Welfare, Gutu District had an allocation of about 480 000 tonnes of maize and has already received about 65 000 tonnes of maize meal which has been disbursed to some of the primary schools in the district. Gomba Primary had however not received its allocation of the maize at the time of writing as schools are still in the process of receiving their allocations.
