By Gastone Valusi in Machakos.
A parent at Caring Hearts High School in Matungulu constituency has been given seven days by the school's lawyer to pay Sh 450,000 which she obtained as sponsorship for school fees for his daughter under false pretences.
Nairobi lawyer Davies Mulani made the demand in a letter to the parent Mr Ezekiel Macharia to pay the school money after his wife Teresia Mbula Macharia falsely and maliciously went to the school 2019 and claimed she was a single poor mother who could not afford school fees and other expenses for her daughter Dorcas Wangari Macharia in order to get full scholarship.
In the letter seen by The Anchor Newspaper, the lawyer said after Teresia made the false claim to the school their daughter was offered full scholarship for the last four years from 2019 to 2022. Teresiah also lied to the school administrator that she was single and didn't have a husband.
"The school has now discovered that Teresia is not a single mother and that her husband Ezekiel Macharia is the father to Dorcas and both parents had also encouraged their daughter to keeping lying to school for the entire four years period making their daughter an accomplice," the letter read in part.
The lawyer said the action by the two parents was a criminal offence of obtaining a benefit under false pretenses which is a criminal offence under section 419 of the Criminal Procedure Code and punishable by a fine or prison sentence of at least three year under code.
The letter gives the parents seven days to pay the money back or face legal consequences. "The action will greatly and negatively impact needy students as the sponsor of the school will be wary of such actions and hence delay sponsorships until background information is cleared confirmed," the letter added.
Today, the school director Dr Vincent Kituku delivered the demand letter to the couple in a tense meeting at his office.
Efforts by the media to obtain comments from them were unsuccessful as they fled immediately after the meeting.
