HARARE magistrate Stanford Mambanje has set a trial date for suspended Zimbabwe National Army legal officer Grace Kurasha in a case where she is facing allegations of fraudulently acquiring a local bridging certificate from the Council of Legal Education.
The bridging certificate is a requirement for those who graduated from law schools outside Zimbabwe.
Kurasha, who is jointly charged with Huggins Duri, will appear in court on October 22 for trial commencement.
Prosecutor Ngoni Kaseke alleged that sometime in 2020, Kurasha graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree with the University of Lusaka in Zambia.
On returning to Zimbabwe, Kurasha reportedly enrolled for the Bachelor of Procedural Laws programme with the University of Zimbabwe, which is a bridging course for external law graduates so that they can convert to Zimbabwean law.
She, however, allegedly did not complete the course but approached the Council for Legal Education to inquire about the process of getting a certificate which is used to register at the High Court.
At the council, she reportedly met Shorai Mupunga and allegedly gave her US$1 000 to be assisted in obtaining the certificate without writing an examination.
Investigations established that Mupunga gave the US$1 000 to Huggins Duri, who was the executive secretary at the council, who then allegedly processed a certificate for Kurasha.
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The certificate was allegedly processed without any examination being written and enabled Kurasha to be admitted as a legal practitioner.
On March 23, Kurasha applied to the High Court to be admitted as a legal practitioner.
She allegedly submitted the fraudulently-obtained document and was admitted as a legal practitioner which entitled her to be registered by the Law Society of Zimbabwe and to practise law.
