×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Nurse jailed for using fake certificate

News
WENDY Thinamay Masuka, a nurse at Harare Central Hospital, has been slapped with a 13-month jail term for using a forged academic certificate to land a nurse training vacancy at the hospital.

WENDY Thinamay Masuka, a nurse at Harare Central Hospital, has been slapped with a 13-month jail term for using a forged academic certificate to land a nurse training vacancy at the hospital.

WONAI MASVINGISE

Masuka (27) was sentenced over the weekend by Mbare magistrate Victoria Mashamba following her conviction on a charge of forging one Gertrude Marufu’s Ordinary Level certificate to secure a place at the hospital’s training school in 2009.

As a result of her misrepresentation, Masuka was admitted to train as a Registered General Nurse for a period of three years and was supposed to graduate on October 25 this year. However, the scam was exposed after her “O” Level certificate was submitted to the Salary Services Bureau (SSB) to enable her to get her salary at the end of this month.

The SSB in turn sent Masuka’s certificates to the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) for authentification, where it emerged that Masuka had not sat for the November 2003 Zimsec “O” Level examinations as indicated on the certificate.

Zimsec established that the certificate belonged to Marufu who had sat for the examinations at Sakubva High School using candidate number Z23484/103.

Masuka was, however, spared a custodial term after the court suspended seven months of her sentence on condition of good behaviour while the remainder was also set aside on condition she performs 210 hours of community service at Warren Park 1 School in Harare.