Ivy Kombo, hubby arrested for faking law certificates
GOSPEL music star Ivy Kombo and her husband Admire Kasi appeared in court yesterday for fraudulently acquiring fake certificates to practice law in Zimbabwe after obtaining Bachelor of Laws degrees in England.
The couple appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mrs Marehwanazvo Gofa charged with fraud and perjury and were remanded out of custody on US$300 bail each to December 20.
They must surrender their passports to the clerk of court as part of their bail conditions.
Prosecuting, Mr Lancelot Mutsokoti alleged that during 2013, the couple graduated from the University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, with Bachelor of Laws degrees.
But as with all those graduating from foreign law schools, they had to obtain a certificate of completion from the Council for Legal Education by writing and passing conversion examinations so they could practice law in Zimbabwe.
According to the State, following a complaint by the finance and administration manager for the council, Mr Joe Zimba in 2021, Kombo approached Shorai Tafadzwa Mupunga, a CLE official, to assist her to register and write these conversion examinations.
Mupunga advised Kombo that she would engage Huggins Duri, the suspended secretary for CLE, who is already on remand on related cases.
The court heard that sometime in 2022, Mupunga approached Duri who said he would issue conversion certificates without them writing the conversion examinations if they paid US$1 100.
They allegedly paid the money through Mupunga who handed it over to Duri who in turn “certified” that the two had written and passed eight conversion subjects in statute law, evidence, bookkeeping, civil law practice duties and functions, ethics for legal practitioners, civil practice and procedure, common law 1 and common law 2.
Duri then handed over the certificates to Mupunga who in turn gave them to Kombo and her husband.
The two were arr£sted by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission investigations team. Herald
