Northern Province Provincial Education Officer (PEO) Jobbicks Kalumba has disclosed that investigations into the anonymous letter claiming sexual allegations have been concluded.
He said investigations established that the allegations of sexual abuse made in anonymous letter were untrue and stood dismissed.
The PEO said the letter was a fabrication and malicious .
He said that investigations have revealed that no teacher or support staff was involved in any alleged sexual offences or was found to have impregnated or was involved in sexual abuse of pupils at Kasama Girls Secondary School.
Over the weekend, authorities conducted intensive investigations and gave discreet questionnaires to the girls at the school.
He said the contents of the anonymous letter were a fabrication and acts of malice by unknown people as they were established not to be true.
And Dr. Kalumba disclosed that authorities conduct pregnancy tests at the beginning of every term and 8 girls were found to be pregnant in January 2017.
He said the tests conducted by Kasama General Hospital established that eight (8) pupils were found pregnant.
The girls pointed out at suspected culprits who impregnated were not members of staff or Kasama Girls support staff(cleaners, guards or watchmen).
And the PEO has said that the school has not recorded any death at the school premises since 2008.
An anonymous letter allegedly written by a Kasama Secondary School girl emerged, making sensational claims that pupils were repeatedly sexually abused or raped by watchmen and teachers in order to escape boundary and time restrictions and consequent punishment.
The letter also claimed that 22 girls were pregnant in January 2017 alone and several girls had died from unsafe abortions caused by sexual abuse at the school.
The letter sparked both outrage from women rights organisations and authorities but also deep skepticism of the authenticity of the letter and its claims.
The Human Rights Commission this week joined the Ministry of General Education in investigating reported cases of sexual abuse of pupils at Kasama Girls Secondary School in Northern Province as claimed by a viral social media anonymous letter.
And the Ministry of Gender has also launched independent investigations into the alleged sexual abuse at the school as claimed by the anonymous letter.
Finding 8 pregnancies actually justifies that all is not well at that school. This investigation is very prompt and has run to conclusions just too quickly. Involve experienced social workers to interview children rather than sending out silly questionnaires. Do you really think a 14 year old can easily expose her teacher who has threatened her before?
This smacks of the same type of incompetence as Nonde’s investigation of racism at the Horse Shoe restaurant. All too rushed and results misinterpreted to satisfy the authorities that all is well. The big question is why should somebody take time to come up with fake accusations about that particular school? Why that school, of all schools? And the accusations are not targeted against one or two individuals but at systems and types of culprits. I find the accusations more credible than the PEO.
LT address Jobbicks Kalumba as (Dr),he was given same day,by same kantemba versity na Chikambwili
Too early to conclude such an investigation you guys. What’s the rush all about??? Let pipo wit investigative skills handle the claim full stop
The girls got scared to disclose. It is happening teachers having sex with students especially during examination period. Malikage. It was a mistake for men to interview the girls. You should have let the women take charge.
Comment Sometimes i laugh as if i am teasing somebody. Why is in this country everyone is an investigator. Last time it was Hon. Nonde Simukoko who went to investigate a labour complaint at horse shoe and did the job for less than one hour she cleared the company. Now it is the PEO who did the investigations at Kasama girls school who also did investigations just at the weekend and has cleared the issue as fake. Later we shall hear competent investigators coming out with a different verdict. The PEO is just protecting his institution and his name.
It can be true I’m appealing to the ministry of Education to change the staff especially males including the watch man. Simple solutions
Good to hear that’s not true. But u have to dig deeper. No smock with out firej
DAMN!!!PLS MINISTER OF EDUCATION HELP THE CRYING VOICES THIS IS TOTALLY TRUE AND THERE IS NO WAY SOMEBODY CAN WRITE SUCH TOUCHING COMPLAINT WITHOUT ANYTHING.ABO ATI BA PEO JUST TRYING TO PROTECT THE INSTITUTION GO AND ARREST THOSE BAGGERS.THEY ARE EVEN MENTIONING ABOUT 8 PREGNANCIES NOW WHO PREGNANTED THEM.YOU’RE EVEN PULLING DOWN YOUR TROUSSERS PABAICHE PLUS UNPROTECDED SEX,REMEMBER H.I.V AIDS IS REAL ABANA BALABALWALIKA.
This is a very stupid conclussion, wishing it was your own doughters. Judging by your rushed judgement you have nothing to lose because your children are not in these government schools.
HORSE SHOE RELOADED!!
I read story of the PEO well. There is nowhere he mentioned he did investigations personally, he is marely reporting what was done. Advise our girls to behave well at school and report perpetrators by names to avoid speculation.
….why is it that Africans especially Zambian like to trivialise serious allegations….those questionnaires I’m sure are hand written…I mean girls were told to fill in the questionnaires meanwhile they are aware that handwritings can easily be traced back to them…did MoE involve qualified psychologists if we do have any…how can you interview women prisoners for abuse by prison warders while the ladies are still serving their term in prison..?? immediately that anonymous article appeared in public and assembly was called and the girls could have been intimidated long before the stup1d investigations were conducted…..investigators were supposed to widen their net to include girls who graduated from KG 2 ..3..4 years back….Rubbish
…the anonymous article could have mentioned…
…the anony mous article could have mentioned Kasama girls and yet the author meant Chipembi girls or Fatima or any other girls only school…that’s why the investigation was supposed to take time…Nonsense
There’s no smoke without fire. That anonymous girl who wrote that letter could not have written from nowhere. There must be something. Where did the 8 pregnancies come from? A watchman or teacher can simply refuse verbally that they are not involved in any sexual activities with the girls. Words against words as long as there’s no visible evidence
I am disappointed with Mr Kalumba. How can you conclude investigations within a few days. Those are serious accusations that require proper planning. You may even need to stage sting operations to catch the guards. All those comparing this to the Horse Shoe saga are correct. We will wait ad hear what the HRC, Ministry of Gender and others conducting investigations find. Also, Mr Kalumba needs to be reminded that it wasn’t only about Kasama Girls but its sister schools in Luwingu and elsewhere.
These people are crazy. Do they expect the girls to disclose information so easily. Its hard enough for a young girl who has been made pregnant just by an ordinary boy to point at him, do they expect the girls to easily do that to teacher, who, by the way were probably the same ones dishing out the same stuupid questionnaires.
These people are crazy. Do they expect the girls to disclose information so easily. Its hard enough for a young girl who has been made pregnant just by an ordinary boy to point at him, do they expect the girls to easily do that to a teacher, who, by the way, was probably among the ones compiling and dishing out the same so-called questionnaire.
The mediocrity in this country is appalling and it’s getting worse by the day. To this so called PEO, a questionnaire amounts to “investigations”. What an abuse of a word! A victim of sexual abuse when asked under duress would usually come to the defense of their perpetrator.
‘Investigation’ would usually take longer and involve different methods than a questionnaire. Parents and guardians should have been involved; former students interviewed; male students also interviewed in private; hospital records and attendance examined; senior management should have been sent away on forced leave while investigations took place. Markets and shop owners interviewed to check spending habits; guest houses. Information is gathered and analysed and scrutinized to find matching and contradictory…
…Information is gathered and analysed and scrutinized to find matching and contradictory stories.
I’m not an investigator but I can do a better job than this dimwit. It’s common knowledge for anyone who has been through a boarding school or college campus that teachers screw students at every opportunity.
Can Kalumba admit his incompetence by accepting that the allegations against his staff at Kasama Girls are true? Can the same concerting girls who have been willingly benefiting from illicit sexual favours expose their perceived good samaritans? Surely, no. The revelations can only serve as a wake up call for future incidents. Most of these girls have benefited from the scourge & will not expose culprits. Some former girls beneficiaries from the scourge are even already well married & high officials today. Can they come out to embarrass themselves today for no prize? Female Police officers & Horse Shoe Restaurant employees have long denied any wrong doing by their good samaritans & already silenced their sympathisers, emerging victorious over them.
Please investigate and anyone trying to conceal these allegations should be fired. There is no room in today’s world for people in certain positions especially those who are supposed to be responsible for students, to try to hide evidence. Please leave no table un-turned and jail the culprits. This could be anyone’s child, niece, sister, cousin etc. It is too much with these male teachers and security guards. Don’t take their word and let the law take its course. Girls tell your parents or relatives and nothing to feel ashamed of. If you cannot tell the authorities, tell a friend to tell someone. If you don’t this it will continue to happen to you and others and needs to be stopped. Only you can stop these sexual predators and child molesters. We are counting on you to do what is…
If you really do not understand the gravity of this immoral criminal abuse, onset of life long trauma and stigmatizing of young girls let me put it in plain language. Kuchinda bana batontho si chigololo. Ni kupaya mwana. Mungavwe bwanji ngati a teacher or a Busa ku chalichi ochinda mwana wanu nakumpasa bvumo eh?Ukani, mkosiya nyele yanu ku mkazi wanu! ala!