Witness Testifies in Ivy Kombo Fraud Case
THE trial of gospel musician Ivy Kombo and her husband Admire Kasi, who allegedly fraudulently acquired conversion exam certificates to practise law in Zimbabwe, continued yesterday with the State witness nailing the suspended executive secretary of the Council for Legal Education, Huggins Hardwork Duri, as the key player in the fraud at the council.
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In her evidence in chief, Shorai Tafadzwa Mupunga last week told the court that she worked with Duri from 2017 to 2022.
Explaining Duri’s involvement in the case of Kombo and Kasi, Mupunga said she was advised to ask Kasi to make a payment of US$1 100 to get certificates without writing the mandatory exams for foreign law graduates wanting to convert their qualifications to practise in Zimbabwe.
After I was asked by Kasi if it was possible for him and his wife to get certificates without writing exams, I told him that I would inquire from my boss Duri.
Duri told me that it was possible and they should just pay him US$1 100 to have the deal sorted out.
Witness Testifies in Ivy Kombo Fraud Case
Mupunga said she told Kasi about the amount that was needed and Kasi, who was out of the country, instructed her to collect the money at his church in Harare.
I was handed over the money by a male person from Kasi’s church as per his instruction. When I arrived there I just mentioned my name and was handed over an envelope that had US$1 100.
After a while, Mupunga told the court she was called by Duri who advised that the certificates were ready for collection and this was around September 2022.
I met Duri at Cresta Oasis and was handed over certificates of conversion for Kombo and Kasi. After receiving them I took them to Kasi’s church office where I got the money.
However, during cross examination, Duri’s lawyer Mr Oliver Marwa yesterday put it to Mupunga that she was testifying in the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission’s favour to buy immunity from being prosecuted for her own pending corruption case.
Responding to a question from Mr Marwa on whether she voluntarily disclosed this information to ZACC, Mupunga said she did not volunteer but a certain officer did.
Mupunga also confirmed that she had nothing to prove that she gave money to Duri.
Mr Marwa said Mupunga had no call record, text messages and anything to prove that she gave the money to Duri.
Mupunga also confirmed receiving US$460 through some corrupt activities and that she was forced to resign due to overwhelming evidence.
Mr Marwa said Mupunga spent a month going to ZACC for investigations and experienced mental torture and that is why she was hallucinating about things which she had no knowledge of.
