A 22-year-old police recruit has pleaded guilty to forging a Grade 12 certificate. Josephat Mpande of Kabambo farm in Serenje district is charged with forgery and uttering false documents.

On April 5 this year in Serenje, Mpande, with other unknown people, allegedly forged an Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) certificate bearing the name Mpande Josephat. He purported that the certificate with examination number 1071840003 was genuinely issued by ECZ when in fact not.
In the second count, it is alleged that on September 11 this year, Mpande and other unknown persons fraudulently uttered a false ECZ certificate bearing the name Mpande Josephat to a police officer at Geoffrey Mukuma Training School, commonly known as Sondela.

Mpande got the alleged forged certificate from a friend, Moffat Chanda, who is currently at Malcolm Moffat College in Serenje district. The police recruit allegedly removed Mr Chanda’s name on the certificate and replaced it with his but left the rest of the details intact. When the matter came up on Friday before magistrate Mwandu Sakala, Mpande said he understood the charge and admitted committing the offences.

“Yes I made the forged document and it was in my name,” he said. The matter was adjourned to Tuesday next week for reading of facts and possible sentencing. Mpande is currently on police bond