UZ Exam Paper Leak Points To A Deep-rooted Problem | Report
The leaking of a University of Zimbabwe (UZ) examination paper recently suggests that top politicians, security chiefs and other influential people bribe their way through law school, a report claims.
Some well-connected and powerful people, including lecturers and relatives of UZ authorities, allegedly have access to examination papers at the law faculty before any examination.
Last month, Harare police provincial intelligence officer Superintendent Vigai Maunganidze was allegedly caught with a UZ law examination paper before the exam was written.
Prosecutors allege that on 31 October, Maunganidze obtained a UZ faculty of law examination paper for the administrative local government law module for second-year students that was supposed to be written on 3 November.
Maunganidze allegedly shared the paper via WhatsApp with one Madombi, a Defence Ministry official and third-year Bachelor of Substantive Laws (BLS) student at the UZ.
Madombi allegedly shared the examination paper with ZANU PF Director of Information Tafadzwa Mugwadi, who reportedly promised to lodge a complaint with the Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development minister.
A UZ law lecturer told The Standard that the leaking of the paper only shows a fraction of a deep-seated problem. Said the lecturer:
Level 1 has a syndicate whose group is led by one Dubai Queen.
The group has been asking for cash for people to join the group as it has privileged access to exam papers prior to the examination date.
A huge number of students are engaged in corrupt activities to pass exams, specifically accessing exams prior to the exam day and alteration of results for those that failed and other means to enable passes.
Level 2 class syndicates have been securing exam papers through the Disability Resource Centre prior to the examination.
ZANU PF MP’s complaint
In April this year, ZANU PF legislator Dexter Nduna (Chegutu West), a BLS student, wrote to the UZ administration complaining about how the programme was being run.
The letter was copied to UZ Law faculty dean Innocent Maja, Vice Chancellor Paul Mapfumo as well as the chairperson of the Council for Legal Education Justice Sylvia Chirau-Chigomba and Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda. Nduna’s letter dated April 1, 2022 reads in part:
We enrolled for the programme with the understanding that it was a part-time programme that would allow us to have lessons during the weekend and after hours as per the advert flighted by the UZ (not the faculty).
It seems that the faculty leadership is now a law unto themselves and a lot of conflicts of interest seem to be the motivating factor behind decisions (scrapping the BLS programme as part-time) being made.
Whether it is professional/ethical or standard UZ policy to tell students to make private arrangements and engagements with individual lecturers so as to negotiate with them for lectures, and if this does not open them to sexual harassment, extortion, etc as the issue for demanding financial inducements by lecturers seems to be taking root at the UZ and the authorities seem to be condoning it under false pretences that these are merely operational issues under the purviews of faculties.
Is this not another way of facilitating deplorable practices?
It may begin to seem that the removal of weekend BLS lectures may have other motives as it was indicated that the lecturers can make other arrangements outside the auspices of the UZ, this involves the payment of inducements and incentives to the lecturers, particularly those teaching languages under the guise that they don’t teach during the weekends.
Where does this leave those students who are part-time? Is this not a ploy to facilitate the conducting/forcing of these students into these choreographed and well-orchestrated extra lessons?
UZ law faculty department chairperson Fredrick Hamadziripi and the UZ faculty of law dean Maja both refused to comment on the corruption allegations when contacted by The Standard.
Mapfumo, the UZ vice chancellor, said he was not aware of the subject.
Acting registrar Munyaradzi Madambi said he was in a meeting when contacted for comment on Friday and could not comment on the matter.
