Lazarus Munatsi
(50), the deputy headmaster at Tsungai High School in Gokwe, appeared before
Bulawayo magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba facing charges of fraud and forgery.
He was remanded
in custody to October 3 as his suspected accomplice, Tonderai Mukakati, remains
on the run. Munatsi joins Thelma Gurupira, 23, Sandra Kudzaishe Ndege, 25, and
Taurayi Prosper Vanhuvaone, 29, on a list of suspects accused of smuggling their
way into Mpilo through forged certificates. But a well-placed source told
B-Metro the rot goes beyond Mpilo and could be entrenched across Zimbabwe’s
public institutions.“This is just a tip of the iceberg. Fake certificates are
everywhere and it is time the government takes this seriously.
“We need a
certificate audit dating back to 1996. Every institution must verify with
Zimsec before employing or training anyone,” the source warned.According to
court papers, the scandal goes back to June 2023, when Tsungai High School
received a batch of O-Level certificates for the 2022 candidates.
Munatsi was
entrusted with collecting and storing them, as well as issuing them to the
rightful owners. Instead, prosecutors allege he took 26 certificates and handed
them to Mukakati.
One of the
stolen documents belonged to a woman named Memory Moyo.
The pair
allegedly altered Memory’s certificate to bear the name of Jonathan Mukwenha.
Mukwenha used the forged document to land a nursing trainee spot at Mpilo
Central Hospital in 2023.
He went
undetected for months, drawing a salary until July this year when Mpilo
forwarded the results to Zimsec for verification. The courts have heard
chilling details of the other imposters. Last Friday, Gurupira of Mbare,
appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Abednico Ndebele on fraud and forgery
charges.
She allegedly
tendered a forged Zimsec certificate claiming she had six passes from the
November 2017 session.
Mpilo admitted
her into training and she studied for nearly three years before her papers were
flagged.
She was granted
US$100 bail and returns to court on October 10. Days earlier, Ndege of Murehwa
also stood in the dock accused of forging an O-Level certificate with eight
passes, including English, Maths and Science, after repeatedly failing the
exams.
Investigators
discovered she only had four passes across two sittings.
Her fake
document, however, painted a glowing academic record with grades like
Agriculture (A), Shona (A), and Mathematics (C). She was remanded in custody to
3 October.A man, who used the fake name “Dr Prosper Mpofu,” ran an illegal
office at Mpilo, treated patients without qualifications, and conned desperate
job-seekers with promises of nursing slots.
He was jailed
for seven years in March. Health experts told B-Metro the crisis has exposed a
dangerous loophole in the system.
If left
unchecked, they warned, hospitals could be flooded with unqualified staff
putting patients’ lives at risk.
“Imagine a
bogus nurse administering drugs or a fake doctor diagnosing patients? It is
frightening and unacceptable.
“The government
must launch a nationwide clean-up and audit all certificates in hospitals,
schools and even local authorities,” said a medical insider. The scandal has
triggered panic among Mpilo trainees, with genuine students now being
re-screened.
Hospital
administrators confirmed they are working closely with Zimsec to restore
confidence. What started as one case of forgery has snowballed into a national
debate about integrity and safety in critical institutions.
Meanwhile, the
manhunt for Mukakati intensifies.
Police sources
said more arrests are likely as investigations widen to track the paper trail
of stolen certificates. H Metro
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