EDITORIAL COMMENT: Schools audits must continue

THE prevailing economic harsh conditions have resulted in massive corruption and wide­spread misappropriation of funds as those in position of authority abuse their offices to line their pockets.

This new wave of social rot requires cor­porates – private or public — to institute rigorous checks and balances and pro­tect their wealth against fraudsters within their workforce.

More often than not, private companies are usually proactive in guarding against internal leakages but parastatals and other Government-owned entities nor­mally drag their feet to implement water tight measures to plug leakages.

The contemporary business environ­ment is fast changing and it requires cor­porates to be on the lookout and invest heavily in internal loss control measures, lest they bleed to their demise.

Elsewhere in this issue we carry a story in which the headmaster of Albany Pri­mary School in Chimanimani who last Tuesday disappeared with receipt books as auditors from the ministry descended on his school.

He ran away and left the auditors speechless resulting in the planned audit failing to proceed.

Without pre-empting the findings of an audit that will be done at the school as well as not labeling Mr Charles Dudzai Mangoma a thief, events that unfolded last week points out to something unbecom­ing. If all was well, the headmaster was not supposed to snatch receipt books and run away. He knew what he was running away from.

Yes, we have heard that he is back at the school, but his return must be taken with a pinch of salt. There is more to this case than meets the eye. What about if he took his time to alter the figures tampering with evidence?

We are glad that the provincial edu­cation director Mr Edward Shumba is re-sending the auditors back to the school to institute a rigorous inspection of all the books. This case is a mirror of similar other cases that are happening in schools around the province.

We urge the ministry to employ more auditors and ensure that the hard earned cash that is being paid by parents and guardians as fees and levies is not end­ing up in the hands of a few people.

Stories have been told of how some of the schools, especially those in remote areas, have gone for years without being audited. Such a scenario breeds corrup­tion and it gives school heads a leeway to loot funds with impunity.

They will run these schools as if they are running their own backyard enter­prises, heavily compromising the educa­tion of pupils in the process. We salute Mr Shumba for continually using his broom to sweep bad apples out of the system and ensure that the few dollars that are being paid by hard pressed parents are put to good use. Most schools are lagging behind in terms of development not because par­ents are failing to pay fees or levies but due to organized corruption that also involves SDA members.

At some institutions, including those that were exposed in previous audits, headmasters and SDA members clearly form syndicates to steal and they cover each other’s back. This has stalled devel­opment and we urge the ministry to come up with counter measures to fight this new corruption scourge.