Parents threatened by war vets over 'economy is bad' remarks

Some parents for children learning at Mudavanhu Primary School in Mvurvi were recently threatened by some war veterans at the school for saying they were not able to pay the fees in full because the economic situation was bad.

Zimbabwe Peace Project reported in its May report that sometime in May, there was a parents' meeting at Mudavanhu Primary School in Mvurwi, a newly built satellite school.

"The school was built by Wimbo Apostolic church based in Madziva. At the meeting the parents were asked to pay fees in full and other parents raised a point that they were facing serious economic challenges and therefore were unable to pay the fees in full but will need time to do so. This point was disputed by another school board member who is also a war veteran known as Cde Mutizira," ZPP reported. "It is alleged parents were threatened with unspecified action for insinuating that the economy was in doldrums making it difficult for parents to make ends meet."

ZPP said it is further alleged that Mutizira then said by making such statements parents proved that they were enemies of the state and their children did not deserve to be at the school.

"There was a lot of intimidation and harassment recorded in the run up to the exercise. In most areas food is reported to be distributed in a fair manner as the Department of Social Welfare is now distributing food after having conducted beneficiary assessments. Food for work is also being implemented accordingly," reported ZPP.