By Chisomo Phiri
A 39-year-old teacher at Mkumba Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Mangochi Michael Nkhata is in police custody for allegedly pocketing K850,000 meant for examination fees for 20 Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) and 20 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) candidates.
His arrest comes barely two weeks after two individuals were also arrested in the district for fraudulently obtaining money from Standard Eight learners meant for Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination fees.
According to Mangochi Police Station spokesperson, Amina Tepani Daudi Nkhata during the month of January 2023 was assigned to help form two and four candidates in paying examination fees through the e-payment system.
On May 25, 2023 the headteacher for the said school discovered that 20 candidates were missing on the JCE subjects verification document which was sent from Malawi National Examination Board (Maneb).
“The headteacher realised that the suspect failed to dispatch the funds he collected.
“This prompted him to request for an MSCE subjects verification document in advance. Similarly, he also discovered that 20 candidates were not registered on the sheet,” explained Daud.
She the matter was reported to Masuku Police Unit, who promptly apprehended the suspect.
“During interrogation, the accused person admitted to have diverted the funds for personal use,” she added.
Regrettably, the affected students will not be able to sit for this year’s JCE and MSCE examinations as MANEB said the anomaly was not discovered in time for them to help in addressing the issue.
The suspect has since been charged with theft which contravenes section 278 of the Penal Code and will appear before court next week, according to the police.
Michael Nkhata hails from Zakeyu Village, Traditional Authority(TA) Mbelwa in Mzimba District.
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