A WOMAN who claimed child maintenance from two men has been spared jail.
Vimbai Tichawona, 30, of Hatfield in Harare, told two men they were dads of her three-year-old daughter and sought court orders to enforce her claims.
Appearing before a Harare magistrate on Monday, Tichawona confessed she was trying to “fix” one of the men -- Owen Ruwanika -- claiming he owed her money.
Before sentencing her to a suspended one-year jail term, magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini told her: “Courts are there to deliver justice and not to settle vendettas.”
For the state, Desire Chidanire told how slimy Tichawona first sued Mandizvidza Musembure for child maintenance in May 2009 and won an order for US$160 per month.
Musembure, the court heard, defaulted and Tichawona reported him to Hatfield police.
While police were pursuing Musembure, said the prosecutor, Tichawona was back at the Harare Civil Courts – this time claiming US$70 from Ruwanika.
The court issued summons for Ruwanika to appear and the slippery Tichawona delivered the papers to Hatfield police for enforcement.
Her luck ran out, however, when alert officers recalled her ongoing battle over the same child with Musembure. She was arrested and charged with fraud.
Tichawona will serve 315 hours of community service after her 12-month jail sentence was conditionally suspended.
[Additional reporting Charles Laiton, NewsDay]