By Ziyah News Crime Reporter
Harare- It is rare for the court of public to be so much engrossed in the deeds of a 17 year old albeit for the wrong reasons but a 17 year old juvenile has defied the usual and is trending. It is also unusual to have a person of the same age being arrested, convicted for fraud.
While it is now a fact that the teenager will have to live the rest of his life with a criminal record on his back, what is outstanding though is the nature of his misdeeds and the amount of public debate and comments it has generated.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the 17 year old boy from Zimre Park under Ruwa in Harare Metropolitan province posed as a member of the Junior Parliament, promising students a chance to join the Junior Motivators SADC Parliament program. He charged them $62 for registration and uniforms and $50 for a camping trip to Domboshava Resort. After receiving payments, he disappeared. The total amount involved was $2,640 and nothing was recovered.
This renders him a criminal even though he has been spared jail time because of his age. Social media is abuzz with some hailing the boy for being a genius who unfortunately misused his talent. Some of the comments being thrown around on social media include, “he thought of an idea, came up with a strategy, a marketing plan and successfully implemented it, the future can be bright if he can harnessed” said one social media user.
Others branded him a member of the intelligentsia while another one sarcastically said “if you give this young man a platform, even our electricity woes could quickly become a thing of the past.”