A judge in Harare let two private school workers go free after they were charged with stealing $7,500 from parents. The court said this money problem needed to be handled in civil court instead. Thomas Mutsvene and Tariro Patsikadova faced fraud charges because they took fees from 60 students at their school, which lacked proper papers back in 2023. Government lawyers claimed these two people pretended to be important school leaders when they collected money from families.
Prosecutors also said they kept taking cash even though they knew authorities would shut down the school. Parents later had to pay another $70 per kid for city registration fees. The judge decided there wasn't enough proof to call this a crime. Magistrate Ishmael Shayanewako said lawyers failed to show these two actually owned the school. He pointed out they just ran it for local people who lived in Glaudina.
The court also noticed that nobody came forward to explain why these two should have handled the registration paperwork. Without clear evidence, the judge couldn't find them guilty of criminal acts. The case highlights the line between business disputes and actual crimes. Parents might still have options to recover their money through different legal channels.
The ruling suggests these types of fee disputes between schools and families should be settled as civil matters rather than criminal cases. Parents who paid twice for enrollment may need to file separate claims to ask for refunds. The court focused on whether the actions counted as intentional fraud instead of just poor management or miscommunication about school registration requirements.
Prosecutors also said they kept taking cash even though they knew authorities would shut down the school. Parents later had to pay another $70 per kid for city registration fees. The judge decided there wasn't enough proof to call this a crime. Magistrate Ishmael Shayanewako said lawyers failed to show these two actually owned the school. He pointed out they just ran it for local people who lived in Glaudina.
The court also noticed that nobody came forward to explain why these two should have handled the registration paperwork. Without clear evidence, the judge couldn't find them guilty of criminal acts. The case highlights the line between business disputes and actual crimes. Parents might still have options to recover their money through different legal channels.
The ruling suggests these types of fee disputes between schools and families should be settled as civil matters rather than criminal cases. Parents who paid twice for enrollment may need to file separate claims to ask for refunds. The court focused on whether the actions counted as intentional fraud instead of just poor management or miscommunication about school registration requirements.
