The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
St Matthias Tsonzo High School headmaster, Mr Maxwell Samboona is set to appear before a disciplinary hearing following the disappearance of Livingstone Sunhwa from the school and the subsequent discovery of his skeletal remains six months later, the Manica Post has learnt.
Following the discovery of Livingstone’s remains, Mr Samboona was suspended for a few months before he resumed his duties at the school.
Livingstone (19) was buried in December last year, a year after he had gone missing.
DNA tests conducted confirmed that the remains were Livingstone’s.
Police reports suggested that he committed suicide after being accused of stealing some food items from the school tuckshop.
Livingstone was doing his Form Four studies at the boarding school.
The disciplinary hearing which will take place at the school on May 18 will see witnesses giving accounts of what they witnessed during Livingstone’s last days at the school.
This comes shortly after an inquest into the teenager’s death began at Mutasa Magistrates’Court.
Livingstone’s mother, Ms Selina Tadya is one of the witnesses that will testify at the hearing as noted in the letter that she received from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s Discipline Services.
When contacted for comment, Manicaland Provincial Education Director, Mr Edward Shumba said he was not at liberty to comment as the hearing is a confidential matter.
In an interview, Ms Tadya said although she had gone back to South Africa where she works, she will attend the hearing.
“Everything had been stagnant all along and I was about to lose hope in the justice system but now it seems as if we could get justice for Livingstone.
“While this will not bring my son back, I feel that justice should still prevail. Of course it will bring back traumatic memories to my daughter and l, as well as those close to us, but we will continue seeking justice for Livingstone,” she said.
Meanwhile, the ongoing inquest at the Magistrates’ Court have seen witnesses to the events prior to Livingstone’s death testifying before Mutasa Magistrate, Mr Artwell Sanyatwe.
When the matter appeared before Mr Sanyatwe recently, Livingstone’s 17-year-old sister, who was also learning at St Matthias Tsonzo at the time of his death, gave an emotional testimony of her last encounter with her brother, leaving most people in tears.
The teenager, who is now studying at another school, said she suspects foul play on her brother’s death as no one, including school authorities and the Zimbabwe Republic Police, alerted her mother that Livingstone was missing from school, even days after his disappearance.
She said the afternoon prior to her brother’s disappearance, she saw him being held by the collar by a policeman who was in the company of the school’s senior teachers.
