A TOP Harare City Council official was yesterday charged for lying to the commission of inquiry investigating council operations that she held relevant qualifications for her post.

Harare City Council’s Works and Town Planning Committee chairperson, Takudzwa Dzumbunu, had lied that she held university qualifications.

Yesterday, Dzumbunu confessed to the commission chaired by former High Court judge Justice Maphios Cheda that she did not have university qualifications.

Commission evidence leader Tabani Mpofu reminded Dzumbunu that it has been a month since she was asked to present her educational qualifications.

In response, Dzumbunu said she did not have any.

“I do not have them and they do not exist,” Dzumbunu said.

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Mpofu said: “What would you like to tell the commission about that?”

Dzumbumu apologised for lying, but the commission said lying under oath was a chargeable offence.

Cheda slapped her with a US$300 fine.

“You have demonstrated on many occasions, especially when you first appeared, you misled us or lied to us that you had qualifications, you told us that you were going to bring them and you did not,” Cheda ruled.

“That on its own you have been punished for, and you did not interfere or influence the present circumstances.”

“The penalty which we are about to impose should serve as a general deterrent to all those of like-mind who think that they can rely on falsehoods, not only at domestic level, but up to the point where they lie before a quasi-judicial hearing, like the one we have today.

He added that the sentence was an example to those who will try to do the same who are yet to give evidence to the commission.”

He added: The sentence, therefore, or penalty is designed to teach you a lesson in your judicial capacity and keep you in check for future purposes, so that you become an honest citizen.

“Even those who aspire or who desire to come in with leads, to a certain extent, take this commission as a child's play that they should think twice about.

“In addition, there too, you have to offer an apology for your bad conduct and behaviour before this commission. Unfortunately, this is all that we can take into consideration in effect. On the other hand, it is clear and it is important, that we should take into account the seriousness of this process.”

Cheda warned other Harare officials against lying to the commission saying they faced censure.

“The commission of inquiry seeks nothing else but the truth, and it relies entirely on facts, and it does not favour any individual. And it is people like you, whose time the truth sits with a lot of discomfort, that you put the commission of inquiry in this position,” he said.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed the commission in May this year to probe operations of the municipality where there have been widespread reports of graft.