A Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) clerk yesterday appeared in court on allegations of smuggling a copy of the October-November Economics Paper 3 from the printing press and selling it.
Edisendi Muzira (54), who is out of custody on $300 bail, was facing criminal abuse of duty charges when he appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Richard Ramaboa.
Mr Ramaboa adjourned the matter to January 14 for trial after the State said it had amended the charges.
The court heard that sometime in October 2019, Muzira was assigned to the Norton Printing Press and his duties included packaging of printed October-November 2019 session O and A Level examination papers.
It is alleged that during that period, Muzira smuggled an October-November 2019 Economics examination Paper 3 which was due to be sat for on November 28.
On October 24, 2019, Muzira’s son, who is a dropout A-level student at Speciss College, sold the paper for US$50.
“It is alleged that Muzira’s son also photographed the examination question paper and used his WhatsApp platform to send a soft copy to Nigel Dengeza in Chitungwiza after he was paid a fee.”
The court heard that the exam paper went viral in most parts of the country, and was accessed by many candidates.
Some candidates, who had accessed the leaked paper were arrested at Gebuza High School in Hwange after a teacher intercepted it before the examination time and were subsequently sent to Hwange Magistrate Court for prosecution.
Zimsec confirmed that the recovered examination paper which Muzira sold was the same as the original paper.
