A case highlighting ongoing concerns over academic fraud in the healthcare sector, a 20-year-old man from Chiredzi District in Masvingo Province has been convicted for attempting to gain admission to Mpilo Central Hospital’s nursing training programme using falsified academic documents.
According to Ezra Tshisa Sibanda, Jonathan Mukwena was found guilty of fraud and forgery after submitting a counterfeit Ordinary Level certificate during his application to the highly competitive nursing course. The deception was discovered before he could secure a placement.
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Mukwena appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Beverly Madzikatire on Tuesday, who sentenced him to pay a combined fine of US$350 or face three months in prison. He was fined US$150 for forgery, with a three-month custodial sentence as an alternative if he fails to pay, and an additional US$200 for fraud. The court granted him until 15 January 2026 to settle the fines.
During the trial, it was revealed that Mukwena sat for his Ordinary Level examinations in November 2022 at Dzoro High School in Chiredzi, where he obtained B grades in Shona and Geography, but only D grades in Combined Science, English Language, Commerce, and Mathematics,scores insufficient to meet the nursing programme’s minimum entry requirements. Prosecutor Sibusisiwe Sithole told the court that Mukwena altered or presented a counterfeit certificate in an attempt to bypass the selection criteria.
This incident adds to a growing list of similar cases involving aspiring nurses linked to Mpilo Central Hospital, raising serious questions about the integrity of the recruitment process. Observers have expressed concern over why falsified Ordinary Level certificates repeatedly appear in connection with the same institution.
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