Clerk jailed two years for stealing school fees

A 25-year-old clerk at Detema Secondary School in Dete, Hwange District, has been sentenced to an effective two years in prison for embezzling more than US$2,200 in school fees collected from learners.

Chiedza Chidaya was convicted of theft of trust property and fraud by Hwange provincial magistrate Ms Rumbidzai Kabasa. The two counts were treated as one for sentencing.

Chidaya was handed a four-year sentence, with one year suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour. Another year was suspended on condition she restitutes the school US$2,207 by December 5, leaving her to serve two years behind bars.

Prosecutor Ms Chido Tshuma told the court that between May 13 and November 21, 2024, Chidaya collected US$322 in school fees but used a discontinued 2018 receipt book instead of the current one. She then failed to bank the money and converted it to her own use.

The offence came to light after an internal audit, covering January 2024 to July 2025, revealed that Chidaya had been receipting payments using the outdated book and not surrendering the funds.

Further investigations uncovered that between November 2024 and August 2025, Chidaya manipulated carbon copies of receipts, recording US$556 instead of US$2,441, thereby prejudicing the school of US$1,885.

In total, the school was defrauded of US$2,207.

During mitigation, Chidaya pleaded for leniency, citing her youth, but the court found that she had abused her position of trust and deliberately engaged in the scheme over several months.

Magistrate Kabasa said the sentence should serve as a deterrent to others in positions of financial trust who might be tempted to exploit their offices for personal gain.