Sekai Manyere
Herald Reporter
A HARARE man, who has hired a lawyer to represent him in a civil suit brought by his ex-wife, has NEVER paid school fees for his two children.
Tidings Nyandowe has been dragged to the Harare Civil Court by his ex-wife Vimbai Zariro who wanted an upward variation of maintenance for their two kids.
The children are aged 14 and 16.
Vimbai claimed Tidings has “never paid” school fees for their children.
She wanted the US90 she was getting monthly to be raised to US$330.
She appeared before magistrate Janemary Makonye seeking an upward variation.
The magistrate ordered him to pay US$240 towards his children’s school fees.
Vimbai said she wanted an upward variation because when the order for him to pay US$90 was granted, the two children were still in primary school.
Now, they are in secondary school.
“I even tried to have him arrested, but the police claimed that they cannot find him,” she said. Tidings was represented by his lawyer who told the court that his client has been paying fees directly into the school account.
However, she did not provide any evidence in court to show that, indeed, Tidings has been paying fees for the two children.
When Tidings was asked about the fees after taking an oath, he admitted that he has never paid school fees for his children.
The lawyer said her client cannot afford to pay the amount requested.
“He is a civil servant who earns US$150 in addition to 4,600 ZiG,” she said.
The lawyer told the court that Tidings has five other children and there have been some changes since the order was granted in 2024.
“The respondent now has a new baby, who was born this year, and the fourth-born was not yet going to school at the time the order was granted in 2024,” she said.
After hearing submissions from both parties, presiding magistrate Ms Janemary Makonye ordered the man to remit US$240 for fees into Ms Zariro’s account.
