APPROXIMATELY 900 candidates for the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) Ordinary and Advanced Level examination set for June this year have been linked to a suspected paper leak, leading to the arrest of a 23-year-old Kwekwe man.
Tadiwanashe Frank Chiminya, a polytechnic student, was yesterday arraigned before the Harare Magistrates’ Courts, facing a fraud charge.
Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo remanded Chiminya in custody to April 17, pending his bail ruling.
Zimsec is listed as the complainant in the matter.
According to prosecutor Nomsa Kangara, Chiminya allegedly created a WhatsApp group titled June 2025 Zimsec Group and Exam Papers in November last year.
In the group, he allegedly misrepresented that he had access to leaked ordinary and advanced Level examination papers he intended to sell.
Some of the people in the group allegedly paid for the purported papers via mobile money transfers to Chiminya into an account registered under Admire Magaya.
Zimsec officials reportedly received a tip-off about the existence of the group and joined using a link provided.
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On accessing the group, the officials discovered communication that allegedly tarnished the council’s reputation and reported the matter to the police.
On April 12 this year, Chiminya was arrested at his Mbizo residence in Kwekwe.
During the arrest, police recovered an iPhone handset bearing the two Econet lines involved in the alleged fraud, as well as a Tecno Spark 9 with a mobile line.
The WhatsApp group in question was recovered during a search.
Kangara told the court that Chiminya’s actions had negatively impacted Zimsec’s reputation and the integrity of its examinaing processes.
She opposed Chiminya’s application for bail, citing the seriousness of the offence and the risk of interfering with investigations.
According to Detective Constable Inspector Sizinkosi Ncube, during investigations leading to Chiminya’s arrest, Zimsec reportedly revealed that the printing of the June examination papers had been halted to allow police to thoroughly investigate the suspect’s possible source within the examination board.
The court heard that Chiminya could abscond court if granted bail since he was facing a serious offence.
Ncube said the police faced difficulties in their investigation as Chiminya was not co-operating, leading to the investigators spending six hours asking him to unlock his phone.
He revealed that Zimsec was also trying to unearth the source of the examination papers, fearing that the culprit would leak them ahead of the writing dates.
The State indicated that Chiminya could interfere with witnesses if granted bail.
