NKURENKURU, JAN 26 – A principal from Kasivi Combined School in Manyondo village, Kavango West, was last year banned from the school by angry parents who had accused him of dabbling in the dark arts of witchcraft in the community.
Sometime in October last year, the school parents held a meeting in which they found him guilty of practicing witchcraft and they meted out their own justice in the form of a 24-hour ultimatum to vacate the school premises. Since that time, he has allegedly not returned to the school.
As time moved on, some community members also burned a Cuca shop of an elderly woman whom they believed to be a member of the alleged ousted principal’s ‘witch coven.’ Thereafter, four instigators were arrested on a case of arson at the village, and among those arrested was a teacher of Kasivi Combined school who is strongly belived to have instigated the meeting that ousted the principal.
The four who were arrested are free on N$5 000 bail and the teacher resumed his duties, while the principal remains an outkast. It is unclear if he is still being paid or not.
When this reporter contacted Herbert Karapo, the Acting Director of Education in Kavango West with the entire debacle, Karapo said that he was in a meeting. “I can’t talk about it I’m in a meeting.” He later responded via SMS that by 14h00 he would have given feedback but to no avail. Thereafter, his phone was unreachable.
When asked by Namibia Daily News, a reliable source in the Education circles alleged that the Principal had been seen since last year hanging around at the circuit Education office doing nothing
By Nankali Za Muserengwa
