Senior army and police officers last week held a party meeting in the school hall, attended by party representatives of all 23 wards in the district. Teachers and school authorities who spoke to The Zimbabwean said they were forced by the local party leadership to allow the meeting to be held.
“These Zanu (PF) meetings are really inconveniencing students and staff. Last week we were shocked to see truck-loads of supporters in party regalia arriving at the school for a meeting,” said a teacher who declined to be named for fear of victimisation. The teacher said Zanu (PF) has also demanded to use the school’s boarding facilities next week on Saturday for the celebrations to mark the appointment of Monica Mutsvangwa as a Deputy Minister. Mutsvangwa who is the senator for the area was recently appointed the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, taking over from Tracy Mutinhiri who was fired for allegedly working with the MDC. She has since joined the MDC.
The Minister of Education, David Coltart, who is on record as saying school premises should not be used for political meetings, said the ban does not apply to private schools. “Because this appears to be a private school, I cannot prohibit it from allowing political meetings of this nature. My jurisdiction only extends to government schools,” he said.