News / National
Student to perform community service for academic fraud
26 May 2025 at 08:54hrs | Views
In a decisive move against educational corruption, 22-year-old Carlos Tadiwa Mafuwe, a student at Kwekwe Polytechnic, has been convicted of academic fraud and sentenced to perform unpaid community service instead of serving an 18-month prison term.
Mafuwe was found guilty under Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] after admitting to conspiring with a college official to alter his examination results.
According to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), Mafuwe colluded with the college's Chief Security Officer, Chancemore Sibanda, who remains at large, to fraudulently modify his Higher Education Examinations Council (HEXCO) statement of results in November 2023.
"Mafuwe paid Sibanda USD 70 to change all his module results to distinctions," ZACC stated. The fraud was discovered when Mafuwe submitted the altered statement for registration in the On Job Educational Training (OJET) program. The college's Examinations Office noted discrepancies in font size on the document, prompting verification with the National Examinations Management Information System (NEMIS), which confirmed the forgery.
During police questioning, Mafuwe confessed and implicated Sibanda in the scheme.
The court sentenced Mafuwe to 18 months' imprisonment, with three months suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour. The remaining 15 months were also suspended on the condition that Mafuwe completes 530 hours of community service.
Mafuwe pleaded guilty, and his sentence reflects the judiciary's commitment to tackling academic dishonesty while providing an opportunity for rehabilitation through community service.
ZACC continues to investigate the case, with efforts ongoing to apprehend Sibanda.
Mafuwe was found guilty under Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] after admitting to conspiring with a college official to alter his examination results.
According to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), Mafuwe colluded with the college's Chief Security Officer, Chancemore Sibanda, who remains at large, to fraudulently modify his Higher Education Examinations Council (HEXCO) statement of results in November 2023.
"Mafuwe paid Sibanda USD 70 to change all his module results to distinctions," ZACC stated. The fraud was discovered when Mafuwe submitted the altered statement for registration in the On Job Educational Training (OJET) program. The college's Examinations Office noted discrepancies in font size on the document, prompting verification with the National Examinations Management Information System (NEMIS), which confirmed the forgery.
The court sentenced Mafuwe to 18 months' imprisonment, with three months suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour. The remaining 15 months were also suspended on the condition that Mafuwe completes 530 hours of community service.
Mafuwe pleaded guilty, and his sentence reflects the judiciary's commitment to tackling academic dishonesty while providing an opportunity for rehabilitation through community service.
ZACC continues to investigate the case, with efforts ongoing to apprehend Sibanda.
Source - NewZimbabwe
