Education Ministry Director in soup for forcing accountant to pay her dubious US$600 allowance 

By Staff Reporter

A MINISTRY of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) top official has been dragged to court for allegedly using her privileged position to force an accountant to process her a  US$600 travel and subsistence (T&S) allowance.

Linda Chinoda, who is Director of Finance, Administration and Human Resources at the MoPSE in Masvingo, was arraigned before Masvingo Magistrates Court for misusing public funds.

The state alleges that on January 20, 2024, accused person submitted incomplete and fraudulent T&S allowance claim forms for US$600 despite not having participated in the Chivi District Accounts Verification Exercise held between October 1 and 10, 2023.

Chinoda allegedly pressured the district accountant to include her claim when withdrawing funds from the Chivi Better Schools Programme in Zimbabwe (BSPZ) CBZ Bank account, resulting in the unauthorised payment of US$600 to her.

The court heard that the accused person, alongside the district schools inspector, used intimidation and threats to coerce the district accountant into processing the fraudulent claim.

It was further heard that when the accountant resisted, he was suspended.

Investigations by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) confirmed that the accused person was not present during the verification exercise for which she claimed the T&S allowance, but was instead attending activities in other districts.

The prosecutor argued that Chinoda’s actions violated the Public Finance Management Act, which mandates public officials to ensure transparent and lawful use of public resources.

The State alleges that schools under MoPSE in Chivi district suffered a financial prejudice amounting to US$600 and nothing was recovered.

The matter was remanded to March 19, 2025 for further proceedings.