Felex Share Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT has dispatched auditors to schools countrywide to investigate the abuse of levies by headmasters and School Development Associations.
Four school heads from Gutu District have since been charged with fraud and jailed for 18 months each.

The headmasters are for Chimedza Secondary, Matombo, Zengeya and Munjera primary schools.
A head at a Bikita school is reportedly on the run after stealing US$14 000.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart on Wednesday confirmed the auditors had begun work in most schools.
Those found guilty will be prosecuted, said Minister Coltart who declined to name some of the schools.
Headmasters and the schools they defrauded will be named after the national audit.
Other school heads who misused school funds are reportedly leaving their workstations in a huff fearing arrests.

THE body of Zanu-PF deputy secre-tary for administration Cde Edson Ncube, who died in Bulawayo on Sunday, arrived in Harare yesterday for burial at the National Heroes Acre today.
The body arrived in an Air Force of Zimbabwe plane before being taken to the Zimbabwe National Army’s One Commando Barracks where it lay in state.

Cde Ncube’s mother, sisters, daughter and four sons accompanied the body.
Home Affairs co-Minister Kembo Mohadi said the nation has lost a gallant fighter who contributed imme-nsely in the liberation struggle.

“We worked together with Cde Ncube. He was a freedom fighter and a liberator. The nation has lost, he was not yours (the family) alone, but ours,” he said.
Minister Mohadi said the burial arrangements were now in the hands of the State.
He briefed the family on today’s programme and all other logistics.

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter
A MT Darwin commercial sex worker who rushed to the police after being paid for her services with a fake US$100 bill, exposed a Mukumbura man who had US$37 000 in counterfeit notes.

The woman took Filver Katiyo to the police after he gave her the fake note.
At the police station, Katiyo impli­cated Shakie Gombo (39) of Zambezi Village in Mukumbura as the source of the money.

Gombo was yesterday slapped with an effective five-month prison term for possessing fake notes.
Bindura regional magistrate Mr William Bhila had sentenced Gombo to 12 months in jail before condition­ally setting aside seven months.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges when the one-day trial opened yester­day, but he was convicted on the basis of overwhelming evidence against him.

Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Roads Administration will this week intro­duce a computerised vehicle licence disc with high security features to curb counterfeit discs flooding the market.

The new disc will be introduced on Saturday.
Last year alone, Zinara claims it lost US$15 million to bogus disc dealers.
Zinara head of information, com­munication and technology Mr Gift Kanotangudza, yesterday said the new disc will be bar coded and encrypted with security features difficult to decrypt.

He said the system will be run from a central server at Zinara head office.
Mr Kanotangudza said the new disc will contain all information relating to a vehicle such as chassis number, make, model and engine number.

Takunda Maodza Herald Reporter
ZANU-PF deputy secretary for admin­istration Cde Edson Ncube, who died in Bulawayo on Sunday, has been declared a national hero.
He will be buried at the National Heroes Acre tomorrow.

The party’s Secretary for administra­tion Cde Didymus Mutasa yesterday said the decision to confer national hero status on Cde Ncube was unanimous and followed a request by the party’s Bulawayo Province.

The Politburo did not meet yesterday as per tradition to consider a befitting status for Cde Ncube because Cabinet was meeting.
Cde Mutasa said 46 out of 62 Polit­buro members consulted recom­mended that Cde Ncube be declared a national hero.

Herald Reporter
OUTGOING Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Xin Shunkang, yester­day paid a courtesy call on

Herald Reporter
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions faction led by Mr George Nki­wane has distanced itself from calls

Bulawayo Bureau
THE Zanu-PF Politburo will meet today to discuss the hero status of the party’s Deputy Secretary for Administration and veteran

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter
GOVERNMENT has set up a committee to deal with suspected

Herald Reporters
SQUABBLES rocking labour unions, self-enrichment among the leadership and political interference kept workers away from yesterday’s Workers Day commemorations with most of those turning up being self-employed traders.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions, the main umbrella labour representative bodies are both split into factions.
Less than 1 000 people turned up at Gwanzura Stadium where the George Nkiwane-led ZCTU faction held its commemorations.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was the guest of honour at Gwanzura where MDC-T leaders were in attendance along with Mavambo Kusile Dawn.
In the Harare Gardens where the Lovemore Matombo-led ZCTU faction held its celebrations, about 400 people attended while less than 100 people gathered at the Mbare Netball Complex for

PRESIDENT Mugabe says workers are the backbone of every economy who should be accorded the respect they deserve.
He said this during a May Day luncheon hosted by the First Family for workers at State House.

The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said workers were an integral part of every economy and deserve respect.

He urged employers to take note of the contributions of their workers.
“We are also workers . . . we work for our country, even ministers are workers. What is important is for employers to take note of their employees’ contributions,” he said.