Head teacher, accomplice arrested for money squandering

Malawi: A 36-year-old primary school head teacher, Hanock Kamanga, and his accomplice, Shibisa Chipeta, 47, the school committee chairperson, were arrested in Nkhata Bay for allegedly squandering K11,000,000.00 (eleven million kwacha) meant for the construction of a head teacher's house.

According to a report filed at the Nkhata Bay police station, the government, through the Ministry of Education, has begun to build houses for head teachers in schools located in the most rural and remote areas.

Mtazi Primary School, where Kamanga works, is one of the selected schools for which the government allocated K17, 000,000 (seventeen million kwacha) in October 2021 through the School Improvement Plan strategy in order for the school to have a good headteacher's house.

The principal was in charge of transferring funds from the bank to the location where the project was being carried out.

According to additional reports, the project monitoring In-Charge was initially pleased with how things were going until he realised the project had stalled.

When questioned as to why, the head teacher failed to provide concrete reasons, prompting the in-charge to order him to accompany him to the bank on September 15, 2022, to check transactions.

It was then discovered that, aside from the significant K5, 000,000 (five million kwacha) withdrawal made earlier in March 2022 when the project was just getting underway, the head teacher, in collaboration with the school committee chairperson, was making further withdrawals without the knowledge of officials at the district's education office until they squandered all the money.

When the two were interrogated at the police station, the head teacher allegedly admitted to hiding K8, 000,000 (eight million kwacha) in a pit in the bush within the schoolyard.

Unfortunately, he was unable to locate the location of the investigating team.

Following this, Kamanga was charged with theft by a servant in violation of Penal Code section 283.

Meanwhile, the suspects were remanded at Nkhata Bay Prison after appearing in court on September 19, 2022, and denying the charge.

Kamanga is from Kapalapata Village in Traditional Authority Timbiri, and Chipeta is from Chinsana Village in Traditional Authority Zilakoma, both of which are in the Nkhata Bay District.