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Prosper Dembedza Herald Correspondent
A lawyer who fraudulently acquired a fake certificate to practice in Zimbabwe after obtaining a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Africa in Zambia today appeared before a Harare magistrate.
Linda Kovi (34) of Kanoti and Partners Public Interest lawyers was facing fraud charges when she appeared before Harare Magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje.
She was granted US$300 bail.
Kovi was remanded to August 7 pending finalisation of investigations.
The complainant is the State represented by Mr Joe Zimba who is the Finance and Administration manager for the Council for Legal Education.
It is the State’s case that sometime in 2019, the accused person graduated from the University of Africa in Lusaka, Zambia, with a Bachelor of Laws degree.
For her to practise law in Zimbabwe, the accused had to attain a certificate of conversion with the Council for Legal Education (CLE).
Sometime in 2020, the accused enrolled with CLE and started writing conversion examinations.
The accused person registered and set for four modules namely, Common Law 1 and 11, Criminal Procedure and Evidence, in June 2020.
She only managed to pass Common law 11 and failed the other modules.
She went on to register and sat for three other modules namely Civil Procedure, Statutes and Ethics and she failed all the three modules. Investigations have also proved that she did not write the Book-keeping module.
The accused person then connived and gave an undisclosed employee of the Council for Legal Education an undisclosed amount in order for her to facilitate printing of a certificate regardless of the accused person only passing one module.
The Council for Legal Education employee went on to give the money to Huggins Hardwork Duri who is already on remand.
The certificate was processed although the accused person had not passed the remaining seven modules and it enabled her to be admitted as a legal practitioner.
By so doing, the accused’s action caused prejudice to the good reputation and administration of the Council for Legal Education.
The accused person approached the High Court of Zimbabwe and made an application to be admitted as a legal practitioner. She submitted the fraudulently obtained certificate to the court portraying that she was a fit and proper person to be admitted as a legal practitioner.
Acting upon the misrepresentation, the accused was duly admitted as a legal practitioner.
Online Reporter