By Staff Reporter
A nurse who allegedly falsified his qualifications to gain entry into a nursing school has had a case of fraud opened against him and is expected to be back in court on a date to be set, according to the police.
theReporter was this week informed by police that they have formally charged Sechaba Saidi for fraud, following a lengthy probe into the authenticity of his Lesotho General Certificate of Secondary Education (LGCSE) certificate.
He sat for the LGSCE examinations in 2011 at St James Anglican High School in Maseru, and was admitted to the nursing school which is owned and run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 2017.
The publication reported two years ago that Saidi’s LGCSE grades did not meet the required standards for admission at the college, and that he had allegedly obtained a General Certificate of Education (GCE) pass which is regarded as below the entry requirement to the nursing school.
He enrolled at the college to undertake studies in General Nursing in 2012 and later in Midwifery until 2017 when he completed his studies.
The report prompted the Examinations Council of Lesotho (ECOL), which is a higher body that oversees schools’ examinations up to the high school level, to conduct its own probe.
Ecol subsequently reported the matter to Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) investigators, through its legal and compliance manager Motebang Mabathoana, for the police to also launch their own investigations.
Now, according to the LMPS public relations officer Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli, Saidi has been hauled before the courts, facing a fraud charge. He said the accused appeared in court on December 7 last year and was also to show up in court on January 5 this year. He could not confirm if the suspect did make an appearance on the latter date.
Mpiti told this publication that the suspect appeared before magistrate Nthabiseng Moopisa with Qcunimuzi Tshabalala prosecuting, and was freed on his own recognizance.
Mpiti said he did not know when the suspect will be back in court as the date is yet to be confirmed.
He did, however, say police will have to be in the witness box to testify when the matter proceeds.
When the publication sought details on the case week from the information office at the magistrate court this week, it was told there was no record of such a case having been heard by magistrate Moopisa on December 7 last year. The office requested our journalist to furnish it with the correct date and the case number from the police.
Again, we approached the police public relations office and were informed the officer in charge of the fraud section Superintendent Moeletsi Mafatle was not in office. We were advised come back later on Wednesday only to be told “the head of the fraud office (Superintendent Mafatle) was the only one who could provide details on the lawsuit”.
Mpiti had previously confirmed such a report had been laid with the fraud section, indicating that: “Yes, we have received the complaint and we are beginning the investigations on the matter.”
In an interesting turn of events, it appears ECOL is not aware that Saidi has already appeared in court to answer a fraud charge. This, notwithstanding its initiative to report the matter to the police.
Ecol’s Mabathoana this week told this publication his office was working with the LMPS fraud office’s Inspector Kikine, who he said was handling the case.
He insisted Kikine had told him that investigations into Saidi’s suspected fraud were complete and that the matter was now before the courts of law.
However, he did not know when the case will be heard. “We will be informed. I will follow up on the developments with Kikine as he is the one who gives me feedback.
“We are expecting to be called to testify as the case should begin when there is substantial evidence (sic),” he said.
The rector of the Maluti Adventist Nursing College, Lillo Kuape, previously said he had sent Saidi’s academic record to ECOL chief executive officer Mokhitli Khoabane for verification.
When approached for comment later on by this publication, Khoabane stated: “I can confirm that the results in question are fraudulent.”
Kuape told this publication in 2021: “as far as the criminal aspect is concerned (about Saidi’s examination results), it is the view of the college that once a criminal activity has been found to have happened, it should have been already reported to the police, otherwise the college will consider reporting the matter to police.”
He said the lawyers of the college would be engaged in legal advice and eventually the matter reported to the higher authority (of the college) to advise on what to happen.
After the reports about the alleged forgery of his LGSCE results, Saidi instituted a defamation lawsuit against theReporter, claiming millions in compensation for ‘tarnishing his character’.
The civil lawsuit has since stalled.
