'Ray Kaukonde 'O' level certificate forgery a hoax'

Ray Michael Tapuwa Chimbganda, the man who was allegedly robbed of his Ordinary Level (O' Level) certificates by Ray Kaukonde, says he never lost his papers to the Harare businessman.

This comes as the Mutoko man has inadvertently been sucked into a political storm and Zanu-PF factional fights based on allegations that the latter had forged his educational certificates to secure various jobs since 1980.

"I was surprised to hear of this scandal in The Sunday Mail when the truth is that my certificates have never gone missing. When they visited my homestead last week, I showed them my original "O" Level certificate and so I am surprised where all this noise is coming from," Chimbganda said yesterday.

"Despite the obvious mischief or fabrication that my certificates had been stolen, there is also another distortion about who exactly is helping me build my house," the visually impaired man said.

While the Daily News has established that Chimbganda completed his "O" Levels at St Augustine's Penhalonga in 1978, Kaukonde may not have possibly sat for his exams - as would have been shown on the forged certificate - in the same year since he was 15 years old.

According to identity documents seen by this paper on Monday, the alleged victim was born in 1961 whereas the Scotia Holdings owner was born in 1963.

As the alleged scandal has confirmed a worrying trend in Zanu-PF where those perceived to be Vice President Joice Mujuru's allies are on the receiving end of various hatchet jobs, it turns out that Kaukonde never worked for the police and education ministries.

Meanwhile, Chimbganda's United Kingdom-based family has expressed shock and discomfort about the man's safety, and right to privacy.

"Firstly, we are worried about his safety in that rural outpost and just wonder whether this spotlight is warranted.

Secondly, the claims that Kaukonde has been building him a house are false as we have been helping him from here since 1998," his sister Morejoy Saineti said, adding they would seek legal opinion on the injurious story.

While the UK nurse and pastor said there was no bad blood between them and Kaukonde, the ousted Mashonaland East provincial  chairman was unavailable for comment as he was said to be out of the country until Monday.