(Last Updated on February 9, 2016 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – A divorced couple in Chitungwiza that was arrested in a civil court after the woman spilled the beans that they forged their son’s school report book to secure him a place at another school was yesterday fined $100 each.
Langton Pikiti (37) and his ex-wife, Clemencia Chikadaya (35), both from St Mary’s, appeared in court last Friday to answer to forgery charges while the schoolteacher at Nyatsime Academy, Makonese is still at large.
Appearing before Chitungwiza magistrate Ms Blessing Murwisi, the pair pleaded guilty to the charges.
Ms Murwisi slapped them each with a fine or risk spending 30 days in prison if they defaulted.
This was after Chikadaya had openly told presiding magistrate Mr Lazarus Murendo during a hearing in which she was seeking a maintenance upward variation from $20 to $100 for their Form Two son.
Mr Murendo is the complainant in this matter.
After Pikiti refused to give her more money claiming that he was looking after his son, Chikadaya said they forged their son, Ashley’s, report book.
Chikadaya said they forged the report for the purposes of securing him a third term vacancy at Seke 1 High School.
The incident occurred on February 1 when the two parties had an argument pertaining to the maintenance claim.
Chikadaya told the court that their son did not attend Nyatsime Academy for his first and second terms hence they approached Makonese to facilitate the signing of the report.
The two forged results of the two terms, appending their signatures and passing comments as if they were teachers at the academy.
Chikadaya acted as Shona teacher while her former husband passed himself off as the History and Accounts teacher.
After the revelation, magistrate Murendo ordered police officers in the court to immediately arrest the pair.
Mr Edmond Ndambakuwa prosecuted.
Meanwhile, a Harare woman was found guilty of swindling a Pakistan envoy and businessman, Muhammed Akram of $200 000 through fraudulent maintenance claims, reports Fungai Lupande.
Olga Mukwindidza (33), who was represented by Mr Jonathan Madotsa, pleaded not guilty but was convicted after a full trial.
In mitigation, Mukwindidza pleaded for a lenient sentence saying she was a mother of four.
“The youngest is three years old and is the most vulnerable. I am diabetic and also suffer from hypertension,” she said.
“I appeal for a sentence which is reformative in nature. Prison has distracting consequences and exposes me to contaminated influences of other criminals.
Harare magistrate Mr Takunda Mtetwa will pass sentence today.
The court heard that Mukwindidza was previously married to an Asian, Rizwan Ahmad Bhatti, and had two children.
Sometime in 2011, Mukwindidza had a relationship with Muhammed (60) but they later broke up.
She then lied to Muhammed that she was pregnant before misrepresenting that she had given birth to a baby boy. Muhammed denied responsibility.
Mukwindidza fraudulently acquired a fake birth certificate for her son with Bhatti in a bid to claim maintenance from Muhammed.
She changed her son’s name to read Mohsin Akram Muhammed. Using the fake birth certificate, Mukwindidza applied for maintenance at the Harare Civil Court where she claimed $2 000.
She manufactured school receipts purportedly from Little Explorer’s School and claimed $1 050 as fees.
The child was not even enrolled at that school. Acting on the fraudulent documents, the magistrate granted her application.
Mukwindidza, who had Muhammed’s nude pictures, extorted $169 260 from him while threatening to take the pictures to his family and the Press.