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Lovemore Meya Court Correspondent
A CHITUNGWIZA teenager has been fined $150 after being convicted of cheating during this year’s Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) end of year English examination paper. Louisa Mataya (18) of Unit B, Seke, denied contravening Section 35 (1) (b) of the Zimbabwe Examinations Council Act when she appeared before Chitungwiza magistrate Mrs Yeukai Chigodora.

Mataya, who was also sentenced to a wholly suspended 60 days in prison, risks spending three months in jail if she fails to pay the fine. The complainant in the matter was Mr Lameck Mudege, employed by the Ministry of Education as a headmaster at Seke High School in Chitungwiza. The prosecutor Mr Norman Koropi told the court that on October 19, around 8am, Mataya went to Seke High School as an external student to sit for her English Paper One examination. The court heard that Mataya sneaked into the exam room with a prepared English essay answer sheet. During the examination, the court heard that Mataya would copy from the prepared essay she had acquired from an unknown source. She was spotted by one of the invigilators, Precious Chindudzi, copying the essay from two small pieces of paper.