SCHOOL SHOCKER

PRESSURE from the Turkish Government may be behind Zambia’s decision to compulsorily acquire Horizon Schools, which are associated with Gülen movement leader, Fethullah Gülen, has revealed.

In a development that has shocked former Secretary to the Cabinet, Leslie Mbula, who is the board chairperson for Horizon Schools, the Ministry of Lands has written to order the school handover to Government.

The decision imperils the welfare of 500 pupils, 50 teachers, which included five expert teachers in Turkish, and 30 general workers from New Horizon School in Lusaka which is now in limbo as it faces eminent compulsory acquisition by Government.

On July 15, 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğgan survived a coup d’état which was blamed on the Fethullah Gülen movement which has since been branded a terrorist organisation.

Now, Zambia is reportedly under pressure from the Turkish Government over the flourishing Horizon Schools which are allegedly run by the Gülen movement.

This is contrary to assertions that Government was going to demolish the school to pave way for a shopping mall.

When contacted for a comment yesterday over the reported pressure from the Turkish Government over the existence of the school in Zambia, Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Malanji said he was out of office and would only be available today. But school authorities have vowed to go down fighting as they believe there was nothing wrong the school had done to warrant its takeover by the Zambian Government and that its lawyers were already on the ground.

According to a copy of the letter seen by the Daily Nation, school authorities have assured parents and guardians that the 2020 school calendar will run as planned as they had not received any sanctions from the Ministry of General Education that the school should not open.

Management said the operations of Horizon Schools have been in accordance with the provisions of the MoU and Contract Agreement signed with the Zambian Government but were surprised that on September 24, 2019, they received a letter from the Ministry of Lands and a Gazette Notice regarding compulsory acquisition of Horizon Schools.

“We do hereby most sincerely assure you our dear parents and guardians that all Horizon Schools operations for 2020 will continue running smoothly because we have not received any negativity from the Ministry of General Education who recently came to inspect and approved the school for 2020 renewal of registration,” reads the letter in part.