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The Mangochi Second Grade Magistrate’s Court has convicted and sentenced a 51-year-old former Director of Promise Private Primary School to three and half years imprisonment with hard labour for fraudulently obtaining Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination (PSLCE) fees from 30 Standard 8 pupils.
The court heard through prosecutor lnspector Shadreck Wisiki who identified the convict as , Timothy Maputu who collected a total of K250,000 from 30 candidates during December 2022, but later sold the school to another individual in January 2023 due to financial difficulties.
Prosecutor Wisiki added that, on May 9, 2023 the new school director discovered that the convict had failed to remit the collected funds to the Malawi National Examination Board (MANEB).
This realization came to light when he contacted the board to request examination identity cards and numbers for the candidates.
Appearing in court, the convict who was represented by Counsel Smart Khalifa pleaded not guilty prompting the state to parade five witnesses who proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
In mitigation he asked for court’s leniency citing that he has family obligations.
In his submission, prosecutor Wisiki reminded the court that the convict had destroyed the future of the candidates and his inhumane actions had caused psychological torture to the students hence prayed for a custodial sentence.
Passing sentence Second Grade Magistrate Baxter Chikalimba concurred with the state hence sentenced him to 3 and half-years imprisonment with hard labour as a deterrent to other would-be offenders.
Timothy Maputu hails from Mpinganjira Village, Traditional Authority Mponda in Mangochi District.
