John Muyamba Rundu-The director of education in Kavango East Region Fanuel Kapapero says some teachers implicated in the embezzlement of funds from the education ministry, through the Rundu regional office, initially thought to be N$11 million, may be exonerated because they were overpaid by mistake. Kapapero further revealed that investigations have now confirmed that the embezzled funds amounted to N$3,490,986.85 and not N$11 million, as initially thought. This list of suspects comprises 18 teachers from Kavango East and 14 from Kavango West. The dubious transactions were allegedly the work of an accountant in the ministry of education. “Yes we were advised that some teachers may be removed from the initial list – apparently there was an error made by the office in overpaying them,” Kapapero said when New Era sought clarity about a list circulating on social media of teachers supposedly implicated in the scam. The teacher who received the lowest amount of money got N$11,150, while the highest amount was N$1,182,367. The accountant, who is well known in Rundu, is yet to be charged. She is accused of having made illegal payments into a number of her teacher friends’ bank accounts without their authorisation by allegedly making use of her colleagues passwords between 2013 and 2016. “We have received the final report of the staff members implicated in the scam and have drafted charges against these staff members. We sent it to the permanent secretary for signature and the teachers will be dealt with in two ways – the office will do their part of disciplinary measures and the police will do theirs,” Kapapero said. Kapapero warned officials who have been spreading a snap photo of the list of suspects that it is unethical “and they may be dealt with if caught”.
New Era Reporter
2017-11-02 09:24:04 1 years ago
