13 March, 2008

Joshua Kawa, Taiama

UMC & Ansarul Schools in Corruption Scam

The head teachers of the United Methodist Church (UMC) Primary School, and Ansarul Islamic Primary School in Taiama, were allegedly in neck deep corruption activities. Our investigative southern correspondent Joshua Kawa filled in this report.

Mr. Moses Batema and Mr. Turay of UMC School, both residing at Taninahun, near Taiama, and John Kori of the Ansarul Islamic Primary Sschool of Taiama, are involved in a corruption scandal.

It is alleged that the trio have converted into their personal use a whopping sum of cash meant for the running of the schools.

A Ministry of Education source in Moyamba stated that Moses Batema is alleged to have also converted into his personal use the building materials donated by Plan International for the renovation of the school.

Among the other allegations is the sale of religious books donated to the school by a Christian charity organization estimated at 650 in quantity.

When Sierra Express contacted Mr. Batema at his Taiama residence on a Friday, he opened one of his rooms and showed Sierra Express textbook registers and other stationeries stock piled there. He disclosed that his wife had previously collected the subsidy which he unduly used to pay one of his teachers.

He said he has not for any reason done anything warranting investigation except for the fact that some of his colleagues have been jealous over his position.

John Kori of Ansarul Islamic Primary School, on the other hand, is reportedly neck deep in the habit of embezzling school subsidies meant to run the school. In the thick of allegations mounted against him is his conversion of teachers’ salaries and school learning materials into his personal use. But he is said to be a strong ally of Mr. C.S.A. Jah who is always protecting criminal tact.

Reports further state that John Kori, when pursuing his H.T.C. education at the Freetown Teachers College, (after attaining his T.C. education in 1959), had his name transferred to Ansarul Islamic Primary School, K-step, Calaba Town in the east outskirts of Freetown where he was collecting his salary till he conditionally completed his course.

Immediately he completed his course his name was retained in the voucher to be teaching in Freetown but John Kori protested it and persuaded the Education Secretary, Mr. C.S.A. Jah, to transfer him to his village, Taninahun.

When asked for comments on these scaling allegations against him at his Taninahun School, he couldn’t respond to the interview thereby proving efforts to cross check with him abortive.

At a latter date when we caught up with him at his residence in Taiama, he said that he would not respond to our interviews because there is a radio station at Moyamba that can better inform the people. He went further to state that journalists should better stay focused in the city where it is believed that there are issues relating detailed investigations such as his own nature of allegation of money misappropriations.

Meanwhile efforts to contact the education secretaries of both Ansarul Islamic Mission and UMC Mission for comments proved futile as they were always either reported busy or out of the office.

However, the National President of the Ansarul Islamic Mission, Sheikh Barrie, has said in response that if John Kori is found guilty of the accusations he shall be dealt with accordingly.

This latest development has led John Kori into throwing an open fight with our reporter who told him he is not a brute. He called one Hindolo Kakpata a 2nd year T.C. student at the Freetown teachers college to help him beat up the journalist and chase him out of Taiama.

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