5 teachers fingered in Kasama Girls’ scandal

By KASONDE KASONDE
FIVE teachers, a cook and a guard at Kasama Girls Secondary have been suspended following investigations into alleged sexual abuse of pupils at the school.
Northern Province Minister Brian Mundubile said the male teachers, none of whom were named, were suspended following preliminary results of a questionnaire distributed to 400 pupils early this week.
Mr Mundubile said data collected from the questionnaire pointed to some teachers, a guard and a cook as having inappropriate associations with some pupils.
“The pupils were responding to the question on whether they knew about sexual abuse by teachers to which five out of the 400 pupils answered ‘yes’ and listed five teachers as being involved,” he said.
Mr Mundubile said following the results from the questionnaires, the school authorities had decided to put the male staff on suspension to allow for further investigations and also to ensure that the pupils felt safe.
He said police were still unable to make much progress in the matter as no pupil had filed in a formal complaint, despite the allegations going viral after a pupil complained to a newspaper last week.
The  pupil, who identified herself only as ‘Grade 12’ in a letter to a newspaper claimed that girls at the school were being sexually abused by  watchmen and some male teachers.
She further alleged that about 22 girls fell pregnant as a result of the abuse and that she was one of them. She said she was abused by a watchman after missing curfew hour while out of bounds.
She said for fear of being reported to the school authorities, she gave in to the demand by the watchman to have sex with him, a move that resulted in her getting pregnant.
Northern Province police chief Richard Mweene said his officers were investigating the matter despite not receiving a formal complaint from the pupils.
Mr Mweene said his officers were working with the ministry of Education officials and he encouraged the pupils to file in a complaint as well as members of the public with any evidence on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has called for conclusive and thorough investigations into the allegations at Kasama Girls and Lilayi Police Training College.
NGOCC chairperson Sara Longwe said that even though the allegations were anonymous, it was important to carry out proper investigations.
Ms Longwe said that the alleged sex abuse could also be taking place at many institutions and so there was urgent need for mechanisms that would ensure and guarantee women enjoyed their
rights.