TORTURED TO THE GRAVE BY FELLOW TEACHERS AND INSTITUITIONAL PRIEST OF HOLY ROSARY SECONDARY SCHOOL BECAUSE OF BEING PERCIEVED TO BE COVID INFECTED.
By Dr Tawanda Wallace Mataka- It is believed and is known that education improves our levels of civilization in our societies but this appears not the case at Holy Rosary Secondary school in Mvurwi.
Priests of the Roman Catholic Church are well-known for their sacrifice for the weak, sick, poor and downtrodden. This was not the case with Father Chikuni who is the responsible authority for Holy Rosary secondary school.
Worse still the teachers and even the school development committee (SDC). The case of Father Chikuni reminds me of the Rwandan Genocide where certain members of the church perpetuated the genocide.
In his wisdom he called sisters in St Michaels Mondoro Ngezi to never set foot at the Mataka Homestead in Mhondoro Ngezi where Lawrence Mataka who was the Headmaster of Holy Rosary was to be laid to rest (MHSRIP) because they will die of Covid as if Covid was the confirmed cause of his demise.
Lawrence Mataka, my dear and only brother was a seasoned administrator whose life was spend working in various schools in Zimbabwe. Listing the names may need another page which is not in the interest of this publication.
He had passion of working for the community and developing the lives of the young in Zimbabwean schools. This was evident in those schools that he was mandated to manage by the government through the ministry of Education in Zimbabwe. His last school was Holy Rosary High school and he breathed his last whilst he was head of the school.
He developed this institution like he was developing his own homestead. He was doing it for the community and because of his dedication to duty and to serve.
However, this did not go down well with a number of teachers within the institution and some of his superiors to the extent that before he even experienced health challenges his life was in danger from within the institution.
He had resigned to himself to the extent that he would not even watch television nor have conversations with those close to him because of that torture. Gradually, his health was not spared until he passed on at 0800hrs on the 26th of July 2021.
This was a death that I attribute to the ill treatment that he experienced at the hands of fellow teachers and superiors because of doing what he loved most which is promoting education.
To make matters worse the school never bothered to pay their last respects to the man who was seeing the day to day running of the school. Worse still the Roman Catholic Church in Mvurwi never bothered to extend a message of condolence to the family because a community doctor had done a spiritual diagnosis and concluded that Lawrence Mataka had died of Covid 19.
The most painful part are the lies that were peddled across the Mvurwi community and even extending to Mhondoro Ngezi through the church. Against this background, I am left wondering if certain Priests entrusted with running or overseeing the institutions are still Godly as they proclaim or they are there for other gains other than to serve.
I am as disappointed as a member of the family with the behaviour of teachers and management of Holy Rosary to the extent that it is going to be a challenge to make amends.
It is rather unfortunate that this is an institution that is run by the Roman Catholic Church and this tarnishes the good image of the church. I am not sure how the Deputy Head of Holy Rosary secondary school felt when he was shown the medical reports by the deceased’s daughter from the actual Doctor who attended my brother during his sickness.
Are they going to go back to the community and revisit their narrative? It was a painful experience for my brother at Holy Rosary Secondary. In as much as certain members of the community like the Holy Rosary claim to be informed of the pandemic, they need reorientation from health authorities so that they treat each other with love. In my opinion they threw away the Roman Catholic rule book into the dustbin and this is an injustice to the Roman Catholic Church.
I trust by publishing this narration and experience the teachers and management of Holy Rosary Secondary school will learn to be human and practice Ubuntu and Father Chikuni to revisit the Roman Catholic virtues of priesthood.
Despite the Church and Institution rejecting him in times of need, Lawrence had a loving family that gave him a King’s Burial. His former workmates and community members in Mhondoro gave him a befitting send off.
May THE SOUL OF MY BROTHER AND FATHER OF THE FAMILY REST IN PEACE.
Tawanda Mataka is the young Brother to the deceased.
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