Deeds Principal examiner nabbed

Zvikomborero Parafini 

THE Council for Legal Education saga rages on with the principal examiner at the Deeds Office being hauled to court charged with fraud.

He allegedly registered as a legal practitioner with the fake papers from the institution.

Absolom Magwere 57, was not asked to plead when he appeared before a Harare magistrate, over the weekend.

He is back in court today for bail consideration.

Allegations are that in November 2018, Magwere graduated at the University of Southern Africa (UNISA) with a Bachelor of Laws. 

For him to practise law in Zimbabwe he had to attain a certificate of conversions with the Council for Legal Education.

Magwere then enrolled with CLE and started writing conversions examinations.

It is the State’s case that from 2018 to 2022, Magwere had been writing six modules namely Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure, Book-keeping, Ethics, Law of Evidence and Statutory Law and only he managed to pass Statutory Law. 

The State alleged that Magwere was then advised by one Shorai Tafadzwa Mupunga, who was an employee at CLE, that if he paid US$500, she could assist to obtain a certificate for conversions examination without passing the remaining five modules.

It is alleged that Magwere paid the US$500 to Mupunga, who gave it to the council’s executive secretary Huggins Hardwork Duri, who was the Executive Secretary of Council for Legal Education.

The certificate was processed though Magwere had not passed the remaining five modules and it enabled him to be admitted as a Legal Practitioner.

After obtaining the certificate, Magwere approached the High Court and made an application to be admitted as a legal practitioner.

He was subsequently admitted using the fake documents and is being charged with defeating the course of justice for that offence.