Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is refusing to pay fees for his youngest son, Chatunga (9), insisting that the fees do not match the consumer price index (CPI).
Recently, Minister of Education Aeneas Chigwedere wrote a letter to the privately run Hartman Primary School instructing it to cut this term’s school fees from about Z$109-million to Z$53-million — an order that came from Mugabe, senior ministry officials said. In the letter, the ministry argues that Hartman’s school fees are not based on the CPI.
But the school authorities dispute this, and say the fees are not only in line with the CPI, but are also comparable with other similar private schools struggling to maintain standards against inflation of almost 1 200%.
Government sources insist that the reason for the directive was that Mugabe refused to pay the $109-million, saying it was ‘far too muchâ€.
Said a top ministry official: ‘Mugabe was particularly miffed because he said he did not understand why Hartman was charging a fee that is much higher than the Z$25-million charged by Kutama Boys where his other son, Robert Junior, goes.â€
The sources say the fees dispute is now likely to go to court because most parents have paid.
Concerned parents who have contacted the Ministry of Education say they do not understand why Mugabe is trying to ruin the education of their children just because he wants to flex his presidential muscle.
Some parents have appealed to the ministry to persuade the president to take his son elsewhere if he cannot afford the school fees, the sources said.
Senior officials in the Ministry of Education are said to be sympathetic with parents and the school, but they feel helpless because the directive has come from the president through Chigwedere. — www.newzimbabwe.com