THE Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ) has confiscated 100 forged Grade 12 School Certificates and equivalent qualifications after a verification exercise of submissions by aspiring Presidential, Parliamentary, Mayoral and local government election candidates for the 11th August General elections.
A statement issued by ECZ director Michael Chilala, on Wednesday 20th July, 2016 said the Examination Council forged certificates of which 94 were purporting to be genuine Zambian qualifications and 6 were foreign certificates purporting to be genuine have been held.
Additionally he said 14 cases of impersonation had been discovered in which ECZ records did not match with details submitted by aspiring candidates. The screening process which commenced on 14th March, 2016 concluded on 29th May, 2016.
“Following the verification exercise, a total of 100 forged certificates were retrieved from the public, of which 94 are local (Zambian) while six (6) are foreign. Additionally,14 cases of suspected impersonation were observed where the details in the ECZ records did not agree with identification details of persons that submitted the qualifications for verification.. Mr Chilala said.
He said due to the certificate fraud by many candidates a meeting held on July 8th, 2016, the ECZ Council resolved that all training institutions, employers and others must consider submitting all certificates or statements of results awarded by the ECZ to the council for verification.
“Following the numerous forged Certificates and Statements o:f Results confiscated during the just ended verification of Grade Twelve Certificate or Equivalent qualifications for candidates aspiring for political office in the August 2016 elections, the ECZ Council at its Meeting held on 8th, July 2016 resolved that all training institutions, employers and others must consider submitting all Certificates or Statements of Results awarded by the ECZ to the Council for verification. This is because the Council is able to confirm the authenticity of the qualifications and true identity of owners during the verification process, thereby preventing those who are not the true owners from using other persons’ qualifications.
“We therefore wish to advise all individuals and organisations to ensure that all Certificates of your students or employees are verified by the Examinations Council of Zambia. Those that may not heed to this advice will be doing so at their own risk.’’ he said.