Cop escapes jail after stealing friend's certificates

A POLICE officer stationed at Mzilikazi Police Station was lucky to escape jail sentence after being found guilty of stealing a friend's academic certificates.

Melusi Ndlera was accused by friend Gadzirai Moyo of stealing his Ordinary Level original certificate as well as Advanced Level results slip during the days he sought base at his house in 2012.

"When Ndlera arrived in Bulawayo from the rural areas in 2012 I gave him a place to stay while he was still looking for a job and a place of his own.

"After some weeks I discovered that my certificates were missing and Ndlera professed ignorance about the issue and in the meantime he had found a temporary teaching place at a private college in Nketa 9 while supplementing his Ordinary Level," explained Moyo.

Moyo said he started to suspect Ndlera when someone greeted him using his surname.

"I only discovered sometime later when a colleague of his at the college greeted him using my surname while we were walking together.

"While I couldn't believe what I had heard I sought to confirm the issue by visiting his place of work. When I got there they said they have no Ndlera in their books but confirmed to having a Gadzirai Moyo as a teacher at their college at some point," said Moyo.

Moyo said when he approached Ndlera who was already in the police force by then he denied any knowledge of the issue let alone using his name to teach at the college.

"I approached him and asked him to bring back my certificates but he denied having them prompting me to report the matter to the police in June last year.

"By then Ndlera was already a policeman so the investigation officer asked us to give him time while he got to the bottom of the issue.

"When I went back to enquire about the issue in November the investigation officer told me that the docket had been misplaced. However, the case was handed over to a new investigating officer in December who seemed to be expediting the process," said Moyo

A Miss Mnkandla who was the Nudlink College administrator by then confirmed that there was a Gadzirai Moyo at the school.

"I can confirm that there was a Gadzirai Moyo at the school. We were looking for a teacher to teach Commerce and Geography during the time and we saw a Gadzirai Moyo curriculum vitae meeting the requirements. We called the guy to bring in his photocopied certificates he only brought the academic certificates without his identification certificates claiming that he lost them.

"We gave him time to go and replace them while we searched for other candidates. Unfortunately no candidate came forward and we were desperate so we decided to hire the guy.

"I only stayed for a few months before I went on maternity leave leaving him teaching. It is while I was on maternity leave that the college collapsed," said Mnkandla.

Prince Mabika who was a Form Four student at the college in 2012 also confirmed to have been taught by a Mr Gadzirai Moyo.

"Mr G Moyo taught me Geography and Commerce while I was in Form Four in 2012 at Nudlink College in Nketa 9," said Mabika.

However, Ndlera has since appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Tancy Dube. He was found guilty, charged with theft and fined $200 or six months imprisonment.