ARREST RETIRED HEAD TEACHER-FONTEYN PRIMARY PARENTS

MBABANE - Akaboshwe!

This statement, which means ‘she must be arrested’ was made by parents of Fonteyn Primary School pupils and directed to retired Head teacher Jabulile Ngwenya. This was during a meeting whereby they discussed a variety of issues, among them being allegations that the former head teacher embezzled monies that were meant to run the school. During the meeting, the school committee informed the parents that the former head teacher retired last month, allegedly without informing them. According to the committee, Ngwenya retired at a time when they expected her to provide answers on how funds had been used at the school following concerns from parents that there was a lot of wrongdoing. The committee alleged that it discovered that there was so much corruption going on at the school and that staff members who tried to blow the whistle were allegedly  threatened and intimidated.

Structure

It was gathered that the parents had complained that the school was not being properly maintained and as result, had become a structure that was not fit to accommodate pupils. One of the committee members, Xolani Malaza, alleged that the former head teacher made them fools, such that today they were not able to provide answers to the parents. Malaza informed the parents that the committee played its part by reporting irregularities to the Ministry of Education and Training. He said the Regional Education Office (REO) was aware of the alleged irregularities at the school. As he made his submission, some of the parents would be heard screaming and asking why the former head teacher had not been arrested. The committee’s Vice Chairperson, Lucia Nkambule assured the parents that the matter would be reported to the relevant agencies such as the Royal Eswatini Police (REPS) and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

As the meeting went on, some of the parents took turns with the microphone to accuse the committee of having contributed to the alleged corruption at the school. One of the parents said he smelt a rat in the whole issue, as he believed that all monies that were spent were signed for by both the head teacher and the committee, in particular the chairperson. “As a committee, I believe that you have been working with the head teacher for more than a decade. When exactly did you start suspecting that there were some irregularities? What did you do about it?” the parent asked.

Responsible

Another parent submitted that there was no way that the committee was not aware of how money was spent at the school. “You are also responsible for the mess that has become of our school. I am requesting that the chairperson of the school committee be suspended while we conduct investigations. He must simply step aside because he knows what happened to the school funds,” the parent submitted. Worth noting is that the chairperson of the committee was not in attendance at the meeting. Other parents asked to know if the school had ever invited auditors to check how funds were spent.

Throughout the meeting, the school committee members tried to explain that they did all in their power to bring order, but that the former head teacher did not want to entertain them. The response received was that such only happened recently whereby the auditors spent about four hours with the former head teacher and came out to state that everything was fine. The members alleged that the former head teacher would boast that she was the boss even at her own home and in church and that they could not touch her. Regarding the funds they alleged she embezzled, the parents relayed that they were made to pay E10 each to assist in paying salaries for a cleaner and security guard.

They alleged that with the school accommodating about 627 pupils, around E6 000 was collected per month, but that they did not know how the money was spent. At that point, some of the parents demanded to know from the committee how much exactly was paid to the cleaner and security guard per month. It was then revealed that the monthly payment stood at E1 000 each. This revelation was not received well by some of the parents, as they asked to know what happened to the remainder of the money. Also, the parents said when they saw the financial statements of the school, the money collected from the E10 brought by parents did not reflect. They said the only monies that reflected were the monthly payments of the cleaner and security guard.

Committee

The committee explained that it had discovered that the former head teacher allegedly used the secretary and other staff to use the money for her own benefit. The committee alleged that a staff member was assigned to always put the money in a Mobile Money account, which was in the possession of the former head teacher. Another staff member, who was identified as Make Shongwe and worked as a cook at the school, was accused of  allegedly having played a role in putting the collected monies into the Mobile Money account of the former head teacher.

At that point, the parents demanded that since Shongwe was in attendance, she should be given the microphone so that she could detail her side of the story. In particular, the parents asked that she should explain why she did not raise the alarm when she noted that there were irregularities in the way the school funds were used. The elderly woman was almost in tears as she explained that there was no way she could have reported as she feared being fired. “When I worked at the school, I had children who were enrolled at the high school nearby. I had to work so that I pay their school fees. Speaking badly about my employer would have jeopardised things for me. When she asked to sign for huge amounts like E4 000, I did not question her because I thought she was going to use it for the running of the school,” she alleged.

Shongwe claimed that at some point, she warned the secretary that both of them will one day be arrested for the monies that they transferred to the former head teacher’s account.
“Both of us agreed that we were at work and, therefore, had to take orders from the head teacher. There was nothing we could do,” the elderly woman alleged. Another revelation that came to the fore at the meeting was that a woman who had been hired as a secretary was fired, allegedly for not depositing some monies into the account of the former head teacher.
This publication managed to get hold of the retired head teacher and she flatly denied all the allegations levelled against her. Ngwenya said all that the parents said was not true and that the accusations were being levelled by people who had a vendetta against her.

“I will start by addressing the allegation that I ran away. I did not. I did inform the parents in December last year that I was set to retire. Another parent did call me and I told her that I was leaving. The second time was when the school roofing was blown off and there was a meeting, I did state that I was leaving,” she said. Elaborating, Ngwenya said none of the parents were not aware that she was leaving. “Even the REO did tell them that my retirement was procedural. I also showed them my retirement letter plus an audit report of the past year. What is happening here is that there is a scheme of teachers who create gossip about me and then tell the school committee. The committee takes the gossip as true and they make me look bad.”

Investigations

She said she was not scared of being reported to REPS and ACC as she believed that the two entities will judge her based on investigations they will conduct. Also, the former head teacher said she was surprised that the parents were bringing up issues now that she has retired yet they should have done so while she was still heading the school. “I gave them a financial report in December, why didn’t they raise the issue at that time? Where is all this coming from? The issue of toilets is not my fault. The school is old and needs to be renovated.”
Regarding the payment of E10 by each parent, the former head teacher alleged that most of the parents did not bother paying it.

“I will have to do something about this issue because it is hurting me yet I am not well. These are just half truths. They are just trying to destroy my legacy and it is too much. I have worked for 12 years at the school and there are a lot of improvements that have happened. The school started improving upon my arrival. The only problem is that the school is  old and needs renovations,” Ngwenya said. Asked why she did not attend the meeting so that she could respond to all the accusations, she said it would not have been ideal since she was now a retired head teacher. Also, she said since she was not well, it would have been dangerous for her.

“Imagine if I attended and collapsed there? People would ask why I was there in the first place, since I do not even have a child who is enrolled. I heard that there is a meeting through a parent who called me in the morning. I am no longer on payroll, so it is not ideal to show up at a meeting,” she said. Ngwenya also disputed allegations that she threatened and intimidated some of the staff members. Instead, she said she fired one of them after about E4 000 that was in her possession was lost. Also, she said she had to release another individual who worked as a cook after inspectors raised a concern about hygiene issues.

“Those people are just bitter yet they were fired for valid reasons. Also, this person was caught stealing beans. I had no choice but to fire that person,” Ngwenya emphasised. Efforts to get comment from Acting Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education and Training Nanikie Mnisi were not successful as she said she was in a meeting. The PS had promised to revert, but she had not done so at the time of compiling this report. This publication wanted to ascertain if the ministry was aware that there were challenges at the school and whether the concerns raised by the parents were going to be looked into.

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