BY AWAKHIWE KHUMALO
A Bulawayo tailor travelled to Victoria Falls to write a Zimbabwe School Examination Council O’ Level maths examination after he was hired by the candidate and was only caught while writing the final paper.
Osmund Sibanda (26) from Cowdray Park in Bulawayo will now serve eight months jail together with Jeffrey Mumpande, who hired him to write the Zimbabwe Examinations Council maths after they were convicted of impersonation charges by Victoria Falls resident magistrate Godswill Mavenge on Tuesday.
Sibanda and Mumpande pleaded guilty to the offence.
Prosecutors had said an unknown date, Sibanda, who was employed as a tailor, travelled to Victoria Falls from Bulawayo where he was hired by Mumpande to write maths examinations for him.
On October 20 around 9AM, Mumpande gave his national identity card and a statement of entry to Sibanda so that he could sit for the maths paper 2 on his behalf.
The matter came to light when the invigilator Simelokuhle Zvavanjanja was doing the verification process on all candidates and discovered that Sibanda was using Mumpande’s identity card.
“Investigations were carried out and it was discovered that the accused connived with Jeffery Mumpande to sit for his Mathematics examination using his candidate number 3088 and centre number 04377,” court records read in part.
The matter was reported to the police, leading to the duo’s arrest.
It was discovered that they had used the same modus operandi to write the first paper on October 19 and were not caught.
Mavenge handed them a 12 month jail term before suspending four months for five years on condition that they do not commit a similar offence.