Cabinet Orders Audit Of BEAM Funds As Arrears Balloon To US$98 Million

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has revealed that Cabinet has instructed an audit of the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) funds to determine how the money is being used, following reports of potential misuse.

Speaking during the 2026 National Budget debate in the National Assembly last week, Ncube said the audit was necessary after concerns emerged that a significant number of BEAM beneficiaries may not meet the eligibility criteria. He said:

“What we are finding is that the system for identification of the vulnerable is being manipulated by those with influence and leverage in various areas.

“This needs to be audited so that we get to know who is really vulnerable. It looks like those who are in need are not benefiting. That is the information we have.

“Therefore, we do not want to rush in without doing this audit work.”

Lawmakers had called for increased funding for BEAM after Ncube revealed last month that BEAM arrears had surged to US$98 million.

Ncube said that the Government had effectively doubled the BEAM allocation, from ZiG2.24 billion in 2025 to ZiG5.8 billion in 2026. He said:

“This also needs to be better understood, but I think the main issue about BEAM is the releases.

“We have ramped up the Budget, Madam Chair, by 100 per cent from what we had allocated last year.

“We feel that this is a huge increase indeed, and it is an issue of budget releases, but conditional on the issues that I have raised, we need audits to be done.

“The second point is, if the beneficiaries of BEAM are in a Government school, to what extent is this not just an issue of free education in the sense that the teacher and the learning materials are provided, and the learner is exempted from paying fees.

“Is this not just a form of free education in Government schools? If it is the case, then even some of the arrears on BEAM that we think are arrears may not really be arrears technically. It is mainly a free education type situation.”

The ZANU-PF-led government promised free education ahead of the 2023 and 2028 general elections—a commitment that was never fulfilled.

In 2021, the government set a target of enrolling 1.5 million children under BEAM. By 2024, the Minister of Public Service and Social Welfare reported that only 1,071,259 children were benefiting from the scheme, a shortfall against the original target.

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