On the afternoon of the second day, Elias got off a daladala in front of the Mtoni Education Board offices. The building was smaller than he had imagined, with a grey wall, a reception window, and a queue of school heads carrying files. He kept his hand away from his phone and made sure he was not about to tap the number printed in the PDF. Then he went to reception and asked for BEM’s verified contact directory.
The receptionist asked him, “Is this about recruitment?”
“I have an inquiry about a notice claiming there is a school fee. I want to use the number in the directory, not the one in the forwarded PDF.”
She gave him a printed sheet with the helpdesk number and service hours. Elias compared it with the Mwangaza directory he had brought. They matched. He recorded the arrival time and the desk name before making the call.
Leah Nambala answered after the call was transferred. Her voice was warm, but she had no hurry to soothe him with grand words. “Tell me the service, the date, and the channel you used.”
Elias read the PDF message without calling it a scam. “Mwangaza received a forwarded notice claiming 86,000 shillings is required before the teachers’ interviews. The BEM portal says schools are not charged a fee. The payment number is not on the portal or in the directory. We are requesting confirmation of the official channel.”
“Do you have a receipt?”
“Mwangaza did not pay. Bahari School has reported a payment, and we will request consent for a copy of their receipt. I don’t want to send personal information without permission.”
Leah asked whether they had made a payment-reversal request. Elias said they did not know the recipient’s channel and had no authority over Bahari’s transaction. Leah made the boundary clear: the helpdesk could confirm the service, open an incident record, and direct them to preserve the messages; it could not disclose bank or telecom information, nor promise that the money would be returned.
“That is enough,” Elias said.
“Don’t write that we have said it is fraud,” Leah added. “Write the facts, the channels, and the people affected. With a correct record, the next step becomes easier.”
Elias opened the ticket form on the desk tablet. In the *source* field, he wrote forwarded group message. Under *official comparison*, he entered the portal link and the update date. Under *requested action*, he asked BEM to issue a warning through its own channel if it confirmed that the notice was not theirs. Leah read the form before he sent it.
“Did you write the payment number?”
“Yes, but it is locked inside the incident attachment. It will not go into a public warning without a reason.”
Leah pressed submit. A ticket number appeared on the screen with the date and service name. Elias took a screenshot showing the ticket number, then asked for a receipt for the inquiry. He had not received a final answer, but his question now existed in an official record instead of sitting in the finance room.
A school head standing in the queue approached him. “Are you Elias from Mwangaza? We were told you stopped everyone. Does BEM really want the money?”
“I don’t know yet. The official portal does not show a fee. I opened a ticket so the answer can come through a traceable channel.”
“I have a screenshot of another head saying they paid.”
“That is evidence that the message spread, not proof from BEM. Preserve the screenshot, don’t alter it, and don’t send the number to many people.”
The man looked at him as if he were speaking a difficult language. “If we wait, we’ll be late.”
“If we pay without a source, we may be late and lose the money.”
Leah called Elias aside. Her screen showed a list of similar inquiries. “Three other schools have asked about this notice since morning. I’m not authorized to give you their names for public distribution, but you can add them to the incident scope if BEM accepts it.”
Elias asked whether they were complaints or inquiries.
“Inquiries. Don’t turn them into complaints until they confirm what they received.”
He thanked her. When he left the desk, he called Pendo and told him he had opened a ticket. Ruth wanted the helpdesk number, but Elias sent the one from the directory together with the ticket reference, not the screenshot from the PDF. “Use this to verify. Don’t call the payment number.”
The daladala back to Mwangaza smelled of rain and road oil. Elias opened his notebook and wrote the difference between *source*, *witness*, and *affected school*. Each word had acquired a boundary. As he reached the final stop, Leah sent confirmation that the inquiry had been received and that schools should continue preserving messages without spreading them carelessly.
While he was still in the daladala, the school head from the queue called. “Did Leah give us a ticket number?”
“Yes, but not an answer that the money will come back.”
“What should we put in the group?”
Elias opened his note and read it carefully. “Write that BEM has received an inquiry about a notice claiming a fee. Write what the portal says, and ask every school to stop payment until the official channel confirms it. Do not name anyone as the sender.”
“People won’t read a long sentence.”
“Then shorten it without changing the meaning.”
He helped him write a two-line message, then asked him to send it with the ticket. After the call ended, Elias realized that verification also required stopping well-intentioned people from creating a new rumour. In the office, Pendo was waiting. Elias handed him the ticket number and asked him to create a register with columns for received, paid, source, and next action.
“What will we call it?” Pendo asked.
“An incident register. Not a blacklist.”
Ruth sent a message saying Joseph was on his way back and wanted a heads’ meeting. Elias opened the evidence folder and made sure every file had a date and that Musa’s copy had not gone into the group. Then he wrote in the memo: *official record opened; three additional inquiries; no conclusion about sender.* As he left the daladala, he knew the matter had crossed Mwangaza’s walls and would now require many people to tell the truth without adding words to it.
When he reached the school, he asked Pendo to read the warning aloud. The word *official* kept the message from sounding like Elias’s opinion, while *inquiry* left BEM room to answer without being forced by rumour. Pendo said he could now send it to Ruth and Joseph together, with the ticket tied to every step.
Elias read the confirmation twice. Then Leah shifted her screen slightly; beneath her ticket were three more inquiries from schools Elias had never called.
---