TelOne accused of double dipping

Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
Government has rapped TelOne for allegedly demanding money from schools for the provision of Internet services, yet the company was already benefiting from a grant availed by the State for the same programme.

According to the Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education Dr Slyvia Utete-Masango, there was no justification for the telecoms firm to demand money from schools for provision of the services as TelOne had already been awarded a tender by her ministry for the same service.

Speaking at the launch of a schools health policy at Mushandike High School here last week, Dr Utete-Masango said TelOne was benefiting from a $2 million Information Communication and Technology grant unveiled by Government.

“It is double dipping and we do not expect that. We have unveiled a $2 million grant where these three companies are benefiting.”

Dr Utete-Masango said Treasury had already released part of the money for the ICT project to start.

“The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has availed the first tranche amounting to $100 000 to the companies, of which $60 000 has since been released,” she said. “The money is meant for TelOne, Zarnet and E-solutions to connect internet services to schools.

“If there are schools with Internet services already, you should alert us so that we may work on extending the bandwidth only. We also want to know if there are gaps where teachers need training in ICT so that we work in tandem with the new curriculum where technology is the way to go.”

Dr Utete-Masango toured Chatsworth satellite school in Gutu and Marota Primary in Masvingo.

She said it was President Mnangagwa’s wish for all schools to be modernised.

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