Maladministration rocks Anne-Stine school in Moleps
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday July 14, 2017 15:27
The services were rendered to school employees. Anne-Stine is a school for disabled children funded by government to the tune of P1.2 million every financial year. The monitoring and evaluation team that consisted of the then ministries of health and education and skills development undertook an audit, which exposed the rot in March 2015.
“To this end a total P187,752 has been withdrawn from the centre accounts,” reads a document from the Ministry of Health. The board responsible for this mess was elected out in 2015 after serving for two years.
The audit shows that the arrangement contravened provisions of financial institutions and procedures of Botswana Government, memorandum of understanding between Sekolo sa Anne-Stine and Ministry of Health and Wellness, the policy guidelines for financial support to non-governmental organisation and the 1994 constitution of Sekolo sa Anne-Stine.
It says given the impasse, especially that the Ministries of Health and Education did not sanction this arrangement, the Ministry directed that the money be reimbursed to Sekolo sa Anne-Stine forthwith. The outgoing board has also failed to hand over cellphones, laptops belonging to school.
Both committees did not do official handing over, now the incumbent board has inherited a financial mess. “We do not have financial records on how the school was running. Even the issue of micro lending, we do not know who still owe the school and those who had paid.
The old board had agreed that they would return cell phones and laptops for the school once they are elected out but they have since disappeared,” new board chairperson Julius Dibeela said yesterday in an interview.
He said the Ministry of Health together with the tribe have given them the mandate to collect school equipment and money from debtors.
He continued; “we will have proper records once hand over has been done”. However the new board says it might be forced to take a legal route in order to force the previous board committee to hand over. Molepolole district commissioner, Temba Mmusi said; “When I was transferred here the Office of the President, which I am reporting to, told me to handle the matter and I did so.
I was told things were out of hand in that school and I found out that it was true. I ensured that election of the new board is held which was done at the Kgotla by the tribe and Ministry of Health and Wellness brought its representative. The tribe and Ministry of Health representative is the one which gave the new board the mandate on what it should do.”
He said his office had assisted the school on what it is supposed to do but the rest now falls unto the board’s responsibility. Mmegi has learnt that the school has done its audit in 2015 and has not done audit for other years.