Zim GBC News | Crimes and Courts
BULAWAYO – For the second time in a week, a student nurse at Mpilo Central Hospital has been arrested for allegedly using a fraudulent academic certificate to secure admission into the institution’s nursing school.
Thelma Gurupira (23) from Mbare, Harare, appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba on Monday, facing charges of fraud and forgery. She was remanded out of custody on free bail.
Prosecutor Sibusisiwe Sithole outlined the case, stating that Gurupira applied to the Mpilo School of Nursing in 2017 after an advertisement for student nurses was issued.
“The requirements included five ordinary level subjects passed with symbol C or better,” Sithole told the court.
“Gurupira applied well knowing that she did not have the required number of subjects. She then tendered a forged ZIMSEC ordinary level certificate which indicated that she had passed six subjects in the November 2017 examinations well knowing that the document was fake.”
The court heard that the institution, acting on the fraudulent document, enrolled Gurupira as a student nurse, and she was scheduled to train from September 12, 2022, to September 11, 2025.
Gurupira was represented by lawyer Tanaka Muganyi of Tanaka Law Chambers.
This arrest comes barely a week after another 25-year-old student nurse from Murehwa faced similar charges at the same court.
The incident adds to a series of fraud-related scandals that have hit Mpilo Central Hospital this year. In June, a 27-year-old man was sentenced to seven years in prison for masquerading as a qualified medical doctor at the institution.
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