HARARE
–
Two
officials
of
a
private
school
in
Harare
have
walked
free
following
trial
for
allegedly
duping
at
least
60
pupils
of
a
collective
US$7,500
paid
as
enrolment
fees.
Thomas
Mutsvene
and
Tariro
Patsikadova
were
being
accused
of
failing
to
register
a
private
school
in
Glaudina
suburb.
Prosecutors
alleged
that
the
school
was
ordered
to
shut
down
by
authorities
in
2023
after
collecting
the
fees.
In
his
ruling,
Harare
magistrate
Ishmael
Shayanewako
said
in
respect
of
the
failure
to
register
a
private
school,
the
court
was
not
shown
that
the
two
are
the
owners
of
the
school.
Rather,
they
were
running
it
on
behalf
of
the
Glaudina
community.
He
also
said
noone
came
to
testify
on
why
the
accused
persons
were
expected
to
register
it.
He
said
the
case
is
one
which
can
best
be
resolved
in
the
civil
court
between
the
affected
parents,
the
former
administration
of
Glaudina
Primary
School
and
the
current
administration
of
Glaudina
Council
Primary
School.
The
state
was
alleging
that
the
two
lied
to
60
parents
in
Dzivarasekwa
that
they
were
running
a
school.
“They
collected
US$7,500
from
the
parents,
supposedly
as
fees,
but
failed
to
enrol
the
children
into
the
school,”
prosecutors
told
the
court
during
trial.
Mutsvene
was
accused
of
posing
as
the
head
teacher
while
Patsikadova
was
the
school
development
committee
chairperson.
They
promised
that
the
school
was
going
to
open
on
January
9,
2023
well
aware
their
school
was
not
registered
and
the
local
authority
was
already
making
efforts
to
shut
it
down.
“The
two
accused
persons
took
money
amounting
to
US$7,500
from
the
complainants
knowing
that
their
school
was
not
registered
and
that
it
was
to
be
taken
over
by
the
Harare
City
Council.
“Thereafter,
the
two
failed
to
enrol
the
children
thereby
prejudicing
the
complainants
of
the
above-mentioned
amount
of
money.
“The
60
complainants
are
now
entitled
to
pay
an
amount
of
US$70
per
child
to
Harare
City
Council
for
registration
and
fees
at
the
same
school
for
the
same
enrolment
period,”
read
court
papers.