The long standing dispute between United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe and Mt Selinda High school headmaster Rev Watson Bundwa has finally been put to rest following the intervention of  the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Lazarus Dokora reinstated the sacked school head.

In a letter to Rev Bundwa from the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Sylvia Utete, the ministry said it had made a decision to reinstate the sacked headmaster with immediate effect.

“Further to the meeting between the ministry and the responsible authority, please be advised to resume duties as the substantive head of the school,” reads part of the letter.

The ministry indicated in the letter that it is going to appoint an investigation team to look into allegations raised by the church against him.

The Mt Selinda saga started last year in November when UCCZ’s highest decision making board, synod passed a vote to replace Rev Bundwa whom they accused of defying orders from the responsible authority among a host of allegations.

The church later notified the ministry of its decision to recall Bundwa but the ministry resisted the move saying the allegations raised against him did not warranty his sacking, encouraging the church and the headmaster to resolve the conflict through dialogue.

The church went further to address students on the school opening day were they introduced Tarwira Chitombo as the new headmaster.

This resulted in a series of events in which the District Education Officer for Chipinge and Provincial Education Director tried to intervene and remind the church not to make unilateral decisions without consulting the government.

The matter was then referred to the permanent secretary and Minister Dokora who called a meeting in which the government reinstated Rev Bundwa.