BLANTYRE—Maranatha Girls High School administrative staff are expected to answer accusations of theft after they were arrested last week. The suspects are believed to have opened a parallel account for student fees.

The managerial team which is currently on bail comprise the Academy’s Danish principal Preben Funch, 52, head teacher Maxwell Kasungo, 40, of Blantyre, administration assistant Amreen Bennedeta Mohammed, 21, of Balaka and cashier Miriam Munthali, 30, of Chitipa.

The four face theft by public servant charges for diverting close to K 1.5 million between March and August this year into an account at a local bank.

Blantyre Police documents seen by Malawi News Agency indicate that the school’s managing director Ernest Kawonga had lodged a complaint of the four people’s extra administrative activities which when investigated revealed the parallel bank account.

Police spokesperson Lameck Thembachako said at the time the account was discovered, there was K776, 907 in it.

“The MD and the Board of directors knew nothing of the account as they are not directly involved in managerial activities of the school leading to suspicions that the four had used the situation to their advantage,” Thembachako said.

If convicted, the four suspects could be jailed for 14 years. Kawonga, Maranatha High School’s managing director, also owns Maranatha Girls Academy, situated in Machinjiri, Blantyre.
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