Cephas Shava
MWENEZI – A 29-year-old woman, who was employed as a School clerk at Mwenezi Primary School, will regret the days she defrauded the school for more than a year after she was convicted of 45 counts of fraud by the Mwenezi Magistrates Court.
Reconcile Ndlovu who resides at Mwenezi Primary School Cottage was convicted, on her own plea of guilty, by Magistrate Honest Musiiwa who sentenced her to 45 months behind bars of which 30 months were conditionally suspended for five years.
The remaining 15 months were set aside on condition that Ndlovu refunds the school the US$757 she stole.
Musiiwa described Ndlove as an “experienced” fraudster who does not merit any mercy but deserves a lengthy custodial sentence that would send a strong message to deter other would-be-offenders.
However, in imposing the sentence, the magistrate took into consideration the fact that Ndlovu has twin toddlers who are less than one month old.
Led by prosecutor Patience Mutsikwi, the State alleged that during the period between January 12, 2015 and March 2017, Ndlovu received school levies from different pupils and issued original receipts with the exact amount they paid.
However, she would enter a lower-than-paid amount on the duplicate and take the difference for personal use.
A total of US$757 was stolen from the school during the said period and the offence came to light on March 15, 2017 when auditors from the Masvingo Provincial Education Offices visited the school for an audit.
A police report was made leading to the arrest of Ndlovu.education
