THE chief operations officer of the regulator that supervises higher education, the Zimbabwe Council of Higher Education (Zimche), had just one O Level pass although reportedly produced fake certificates saying she had five O Levels plus tertiary qualifications.
The embarrassed education quality regulator and Mrs
Florence Chimbumu have now parted company, although it is unknown if she
resigned or was fired, after Zimche found via Zimsec that she had just one O
Level and the Higher Examination Council (Hexco) dismissed her tertiary
qualifications as fake. She was caught out by the Zimche internal auditor who
did the checks normally done before hiring by human resources officers.
An internal memorandum circulated at Zimche informing other
staff of Mrs Chimbumu’s departure was vague and only stated she was no longer
on the staff. “This memo serves to inform that Mrs F Chimbumu is no longer a
member of staff of the Zimche.
“Let me take this opportunity to thank her for the
contribution that she made to the Zimche and we wish her well in her future
endeavours.
“By copy of this memo, may I kindly request the director
ICT to disconnect her Outlook account as well as her Microsoft Teams account,”
reads the memorandum.
Zimche has since reported the fraud to Borrowdale Police
Station under RRB 458 9132/2020 and investigations are underway.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi confirmed receiving the report, saying the suspect had not yet been
arrested.
“I can confirm that a police report was made to the effect
that the suspect used fake or doctored educational qualifications to get a job.
“We are currently investigating a case of suspected fraud
although the suspect has not yet been picked up,” said Asst Comm Nyathi.
Zimche internal auditor Mr Takwana Mangwende, who noticed
the anomalies and verified with Zimsec and Hexco, was summoned to Borrowdale
Police Station to assist with investigations.
Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Professor Amon
Murwira said the ministry was carrying out a quality control exercise to weed
out those underqualified for their jobs but refused to comment on Mrs
Chimbumu’s case.
“I cannot comment on an individual because we are carrying
out a skills audit to ensure quality control in the ministry. All employees are
being audited and we will release a comprehensive report once we are done with
the exercise,” said Prof Murwira.
Sources at Zimche said Mrs Chimbumu’s case came to light
when the internal audit department recently asked all staff to submit copies of
their academic and professional qualifications.
“The internal auditor, Mr Mangwende, asked all of us to
submit copies of our educational and professional certificates for vetting.
During that exercise, the auditors noticed some anomalies on Mrs Chimbumu’s
qualifications before sending the Ordinary Level certificate for verification
at Zimsec.
“Another suspicious Hexco qualification was also sent for
verification and both papers turned out to be fake,” said the source.
A Zimche committee on risk and audit recommended criminal
investigations. Sources said Mrs Chimbumu panicked and tendered her resignation
letter to Zimche but the human resources department, after consultation with
legal experts, went on to suspend her. She wanted to go on leave pending
resignation in December this year.
In a sudden turn of events, she finally left the
organisation yesterday. Zimche chief executive Professor Kuzvinetsa Dzvimbo
refused to comment on the issue and referred the writer to the organisation’s
human resources director Mrs Nyakurerwa.
“Our human resources department will comment on the case.
Talk to Mrs Nyakurerwa,” he said. Mrs Nyakurerwa asked for an email message,
which she never responded to.
“I saw your mail but I will forward it to the public
relations department,” she said.
The public relations department did not respond to the
questions and the director, Mr Jonathan Gandari’s phone went unanswered. Mrs
Chimbumu was promoted last year from administrator, in an elevation initiated
under the new chief executive Professor Kuzvinetsa Dzvimbo’s restructuring
exercise.
The recent restructuring saw the recruitment of 11 new
managers, creating a management-rich organogram.
The new positions included two chief directors, directors
of finance, audit, admin, information and communications technology (ICT) and
chief operations officer among other positions in addition to the other
managers already in post.
The new appointees assumed duty on January 6, 2020, after
being selected in interviews conducted in November last year. Herald
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