(Harare)The Headmaster of Prince Edward High school in Harare has dismissed rumours which claim that a form one 13-year-old student Munashe Banda, who was the found drowned in a swimming pool, may have been murdered at the school last week.
His comments come after the police launched a murder investigation following the advice of a post mortem on the child’s body.
Mr Agrippa Sora told our reporter on Monday that he was a witness to the pathologist’s announcement of the findings which according to him do not point to murder but rather to an accident as the body was being dragged out of the pool.
“Yes I was there when the pathologist gave his findings; the relatives were there and the findings were he died of asphyxia caused by drowning,” he said.
About allegations of physical bodily harm on the student, Mr Sora said “It is not true that he (Banda) died of physical attack.”
“That’s not true,” he said.
“The pathologist indicated that there were bruises on the forehead, and on his back. These were bruises not a deep gash, as indicated by the media. These were bruises, and the pathologist just said the police should just investigate and see where the bruises came from. And our understanding is the body as it was being retrieved from the water, that may have caused the bruises. These were bruises not wounds, not gashes.”
A relative of Munashe who attended the funeral was however quoted stating, “We don’t think he drowned, but we suspected from the injuries he had on his body that he was assaulted before being thrown into the pool.”
Headmaster also denies bullying allegations
Mr Sora also rejected allegations that bullying increased at the school in recent months as alleged by an unnamed former student.
The state media at the weekend reported that a “concerned former PE pupil ‘Alex’ ” who reportedly raised his fears saying,”Having been an old boy of the school it pains me when I see things going haywire and disorderly at my school. Now, I had the priviledge of working with Mr Atkinson who is the headmaster and I know he has the school at heart but it is the parents that I am worried about and the children they are bringing.”
Mr Sora however said:
“That’s not true at all. Whatever incident is reported is taken quickly. And all these cases come to the attention of the headmaster. We are building a child friendly school. So there is no room for the bullying you are referring to because we are a child friendly school.”
Any other incidences of drowning in the past?
Asked if any other such incidences of drowing had occurred at the school in recent years, Mr Sora replied saying he only began work in September this year, therefore he would not know anything that transpired before his tenure as school head.
10 Replies to “Headmaster dismisses murder rumours at Prince Edward High School”
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Guyz we make mistakez and after all the admin cannot have an eye on every student on the campus . Instead of putting blame on people we should use that tym 2 come up wit a way of eliminating such cases from our schools coz the damage has already been done and thatz a fact ,instead of revenge we shld find a way coz its ur children who murdered Munashe not the head so on your side parents u are fallin 2 install go morals and behaviour in your children . My condolences to Munashes family may his soul rest in internal peace
Ths z tregic…
I fail to get why this man wants to make fools of us . Does he not know that he appointed a non repentant bully as headboy and he knows about it . Is the headboy not the one who bashed a lower 6th student three days before being made headboy and this headmaster did nothing but reward it . mxm mhani this man is ignorant . ngaabviswe pabasa thats negliegent behaviour
Prince Edward School neMabelreign Girls High – zvikoro zvanetsa mu Harare, look whats happening now. We hear of violence during inter-schools Sports Day
Mr Sora, why pre-empt police investigations? are you trying to hide something? If there is nothing to hide, let the police finish their investigations before giving your opinions or better still give them to the investigating officers.
The headmaster’s denials make my nerves go numb with anger-he has NO idea of the pain the child’s parents are going through because of him and his staff’s negligent behaviour that brought about this tragic event.He is more worried about protecting the school’s image than the matter at hand.This is typical of Principals who contain bullying in their institutions, instead of working to eradicate such bad behaviour from their schools, they become defensive. He should just shut up rather than try to defend the indefensible.
This is a very serious issue because it involves the welfare of minors whose parents entrust teachers to act in loco-parentis, but sadly the little ones are neglected to the point of dying, not in a battle field, but in a school setting where they are supposed to be safe.
Parents also need to exhaust a school’s Child Protection and Bullying policies before sending a child to any school, irregardless of any positive reviews the school might have from elsewhere.They also need to make sure that these policies are functional to ensure the safety of their kids.It is also wise for parents to always be on the look out for any signs of bulllying on your child, e,g unexplained physical bruising, torn clothing ( even a button ),anger isssues,etc. Approach the school IMMEDIATELY for an explanation at the slightest concern of bullying so that the situation can be dealt with before anything worse happens.
It doesn’t matter even if they tag you a “Protective mum”,your child’s safety is more important than anything else.
Rest in peace and may justice take its full course in this matter.
Editor, the pathologist’s report is being taken seriously and as we speak, police forensic unit and CID Homicide are working hand in gloove to try and find out the cause of this mishap. If Mr Sora took over in September then honestly he can’t be the best person to comment about bullying for he knows not yet about the real situation at the school. The results from police investigations shall be final.
I feel that the police should continue investigating this case. Rumor has it that Banda was the keeper for water polo at his school meaning that he could swim. What are the chances that he drowned because he could’nt swim? Nevertheless, the boarding master should be arrested. We as parents leave this teachers in charge to take care of our children. We are paying a lot of money for these teachers to take care of our children. The boarding master has failed his job! On that note, the headmaster should also be arrested as he knows that prefects are in charge of discipline in the school and has been careless in letting this happen. It is obvious the child was bullied. The culprits should not even be allowed to write exams! Think about this, we all have children, or a brother, or even a nephew in boarding school! What if it was your relative? Police continue doing the investigations! Thank you!
manyunyu is there in most if not all boarding skulzs. so, its a question of controlling it as the headmaster puts it. “Whatever incident is reported is taken quickly.”
I hope the death was not due to bullying. Remember “manyunyu pamission”? PE should continue being a child-friendly school.