DEPUTY HEADMASTER IN CUSTODY AS MPILO FAKE CERTIFICATES SCANDAL DEEPENS
THE fake certificate scandal shaking Mpilo Central Hospital has exploded into a full-blown crisis, with a deputy headmaster now locked up as calls for a massive national certificate audit grow louder.
Lazarus Munatsi (50), the deputy headmaster at Tsungai High School in Gokwe, appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba facing charges of fraud and forgery.
He was remanded in custody to October 3 as his suspected accomplice, Tonderai Mukakati, remains on the run. Munatsi joins Thelma Gurupira, 23, Sandra Kudzaishe Ndege, 25, and Taurayi Prosper Vanhuvaone, 29, on a list of suspects accused of smuggling their way into Mpilo through forged certificates. But a well-placed source told B-Metro the rot goes beyond Mpilo and could be entrenched across Zimbabwe’s public institutions.“This is just a tip of the iceberg. Fake certificates are everywhere and it is time the government takes this seriously.
“We need a certificate audit dating back to 1996. Every institution must verify with Zimsec before employing or training anyone,” the source warned.According to court papers, the scandal goes back to June 2023, when Tsungai High School received a batch of O-Level certificates for the 2022 candidates.
Munatsi was entrusted with collecting and storing them, as well as issuing them to the rightful owners.Instead, prosecutors allege he took26 certificates and handed them to Mukakati.
One of the stolen documents belonged to a woman named Memory Moyo.
The pair allegedly altered Memory’s certificate to bear the name of Jonathan Mukwenha. Mukwenha used the forged document to land a nursing trainee spot at Mpilo Central Hospital in 2023.
He went undetected for months, drawing a salary until July this year when Mpilo forwarded the results to Zimsec for verification. The courts have heard chilling details of the other imposters. Last Friday, Gurupira of Mbare, appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Abednico Ndebele on fraud and forgery charges.
She allegedly tendered a forged Zimsec certificate claiming she had six passes from the November 2017 session.
Mpilo admitted her into training and she studied for nearly three years before her papers were flagged.
She was granted US$100 bail and returns to court on October 10. Days earlier, Ndege of Murehwa also stood in the dock accused of forging an O-Level certificate with eight passes, including English, Maths and Science, after repeatedly failing the exams.
Investigators discovered she only had four passes across two sittings.
Her fake document, however, painted a glowing academic record with grades like Agriculture (A), Shona (A), and Mathematics (C). She was remanded in custody to 3 October.A man, who used the fake name “Dr Prosper Mpofu,” ran an illegal office at Mpilo, treated patients without qualifications, and conned desperate job-seekers with promises of nursing slots.
He was jailed for seven years in March. Health experts told B-Metro the crisis has exposed a dangerous loophole in the system.
If left unchecked, they warned, hospitals could be flooded with unqualified staff putting patients’ lives at risk.
“Imagine a bogus nurse administering drugs or a fake doctor diagnosing patients? It is frightening and unacceptable.
“The government must launch a nationwide clean-up and audit all certificates in hospitals, schools and even local authorities,” said a medical insider. The scandal has triggered panic among Mpilo trainees, with genuine students now being re-screened.
Hospital administrators confirmed they are working closely with Zimsec to restore confidence. What started as one case of forgery has snowballed into a national debate about integrity and safety in critical institutions.
Meanwhile, the manhunt for Mukakati intensifies.
Police sources said more arrests are likely as investigations widen to track the paper trail of stolen certificates.
H-metro
