NUL lecturer in court for falsifying results
MASERU — A National University of Lesotho (NUL) lecturer briefly appeared in court last week to answer a charge of corruption after he allegedly solicited bribes from students to tamper with their academic results.
Thuso Rabele, a social sciences lecturer, is out on M500 bail.
The crown alleges Rabele, 40, last June received bribes and promised to falsify students’ results to make them pass.
It is alleged that Rabele received a M1 000 bribe from a social sciences student, Litšoanelo Masoebe, with a promise that he would alter her marks to a pass despite the fact that she had flunked her exams.
On the second count Rabele is said to have received a M2 000 bribe from Morongoe Lichaba after promising her that he would also tweak her exam results.
“Rabele had asked students to give him M1 000 and M2 000 in exchange for them to pass their examinations,” Masupha Masupha, the police spokesperson, said.
Rabele’s arrest comes barely five months after the police began investigations at NUL following allegations that lecturers were tampering with students’ results.
Under investigation were some officials who were accused of getting bribes from students to change grades.
For instance, it was alleged a student with a “C” would pay a bribe for his grade to be changed to an “A”.
The police interviewed a number of officials but the results of that investigation have not been made public.
NUL Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Mafa Sejanamane, who is in charge of the academic programme, confirmed the investigation last year.
“We have reported allegations of the fraudulent manipulation of students’ records but that is all I can say at the moment,” Sejanamane said then.
The investigation reportedly started after heads of departments and deans at the troubled university noticed discrepancies between the results on some students’ exam scripts and those presented to the Senate.
Two months after that NUL unearthed an elaborate fraud case in which a student was awarded a degree she did not deserve.
Professor Sejanamane told a special senate meeting that it was “one of the most elaborate fraud cases on the university system”.
The student at the centre of the investigation was Likhabiso Patience Phamotse who was capped by NUL chancellor King Letsie III on October 27 for a degree in education.
Phamotse, whose mother taught theology in the Faculty of Humanities, graduated after she obtained an urgent High Court order compelling the university to grant her the degree.
This was despite that Phamotse had failed six subjects, according to a report seen by the Lesotho Times.
The report said Phamotse enrolled with the Faculty of Humanities in the 2008/2009 academic year. Her main courses were Philosophy and History.
However, during her third year Phamotse transferred to the Faculty of Education.
Preliminary internal checks, according to the report, had revealed that the Faculty of Education did not have her transfer letter and the academic office also failed to locate her student file.
It was revealed that Phamotse did not do and pass any education course.
She did not do teaching subjects in second year.
She failed Statistics (ST 1381) but the marks were later changed in the ITS system to a pass even though she had not supplemented the subject.
She failed English (EL 304) but the marks were changed to a pass.
She failed education course, LED 325, but the marks were changed to a pass.
She failed another education course, LED 362, but the marks were changed to a pass.
The Faculty of Education recommended that Phamotse should repeat two other courses, EDF 223 and EL 314.
Only last week NUL again hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons when 12 students appeared before the Maseru Magistrates’ Court charged with fraud.
The students, five female and seven males, are accused of producing fake Cambridge Overseas School Certificates to gain entry into the university.
They were accused of using the same certificates to obtain loans totalling M11 182.50 each from the National Manpower Development Secretariat.
The accused were granted M500 bail each and will be back in court on February 6.
Comment by Scorpion on 31 January 2013:
ke sure thousands did this. This cannot be a new trend!
Comment by No name on 31 January 2013:
Hee batho ba Lesotho Times ba rata ho ngola history litabeng tsa bona.*Its boring guys*
Comment by Malebo on 31 January 2013:
Ha ba fatuoe le mona mesebetsing ba bang ba tala hona hoo!
Comment by No name on 31 January 2013:
Hee batho ba Lesotho Times ba rata ho ngola history litabeng tsa bona.*Its boring guys*.
Comment by Walker15 on 31 January 2013:
Our local educational system nids quick recovery or else al wil b gone soon.
Comment by Teboho Ntoampe on 31 January 2013:
Who would want to attend a corrupt vasity like NUL.the problem is not with the students giving bribes the problem is with the management and lecturers for accepting those bribes.One would say”Are they that hungry for money?”
Comment by mzini on 31 January 2013:
U ntsa ba ja kea kholoa. Ke li cheri feela
Comment by Sabrina on 31 January 2013:
4 the love of money! Money is the root of al evil!Hm!
Comment by boqitolo on 31 January 2013:
ha li ba je. O kae itumeleng lesia,mae le mokhoenyana e leng batloung lillane? Mamoswatsi le sofia bona? Lea bona? Truth wil set us free guys. Siverts pliz dnt go nul nids u
Comment by Nkotsatsa on 31 January 2013:
Oa ithuta o le motho hore ho na le batho ba bangata mesebetsing ka ho fapakana ba hiriloeng ka mangolo a bolotsana. E le hore ke toka ho hlahloba hohle mona e le ho fiela bobolu bona.
Comment by appiah on 31 January 2013:
batho bana ba ne ba leka letsoho hle banna. Hardlk bafetho
Comment by Lekhoakhoa on 31 January 2013:
I thought you go to Uni to learn? Why spend all that time at boring Roma if you are not studying? I would assume they could have easily bribed the Lesotho government officers to give them jobs without a struggle!
Comment by Bono sa ntja on 31 January 2013:
Ba bang bua le haholo feela ele balotsana.halala we ‘nyeo
Comment by Lekaota on 31 January 2013:
hardluk 2 those caught bt @ least u hv 2 learn though its in a hard way.Pheping etsoe e khoptjoa ele maoto mane bt wat i no is 1ns biten twice shy
Comment by boni on 31 January 2013:
Pere e nngoe le e nngoe e ja moo e fulang.Le re lecture li je kae haesita mapolesa a ja tjotjo ka maphelo a batho
Comment by Lara Brian on 31 January 2013:
Kindly do visit NTTC /Lesotho College of Education ,I am telling you we have them and some have applied in Nul to do degree,
Comment by Mofo on 31 January 2013:
Take for instance, someone who passed form5 with flying colours, gets admitted in NUL, gets his degree in four years with flying colours and as soon as he graduates he is taken in by the department in question because he brilliant.He starts to tutor/lecture 1st year students. I stand to believe that all he has is the content of the subject he is lecturing. He is not prepared and was not prepared to teach others. When will that culture stop because it results in lectures like this one in question. Eish!
Comment by tumelo tjale on 1 February 2013:
ao banna oe
Comment by Ape on 1 February 2013:
@Mofo You don’t know what you are talking about. Do you have any evidence to prove that a ‘brilliant’ graduate “is not prepared and was not prepared to teach others”? Next time base your claims on reason, not emotions. With emotions, no rational person will take you seriously.
Comment by Academic on 1 February 2013:
@Mofo you you dont just teach at a university jst bcoz u were a brilliant student, have to have a masters degree, get your facts straight
Comment by Sanko on 2 February 2013:
It seems the cheating wave is a global phenomenon – ” Dozens suspended for Harvard cheating
Published: 2013/02/02
Source: SAPA
Comment by lenkoe on 2 February 2013:
Rona ba bang re dutse hae tjena e ka Nna yaba lebaka ke hobane diresults tsa rona di ne di lo rekisetswa bao ba lefang. Le teng ha ke re kea itseka ke ba isa ANTI-CORRUPtIOn baa ntshosa ka hore ba tla mpolaya ha feela mosebetsi o ka feela. Motho ha a bona di month tjametse wa resigna
Comment by lenkoe on 2 February 2013:
Rona ba bang re dutse hae tjena e ka Nna yaba lebaka ke hobane diresults tsa rona di ne di lo rekisetswa bao ba lefang. Le teng ha ke re kea itseka ke ba isa ANTI-CORRUPtIOn baa ntshosa ka hore ba tla mpolaya ha feela mosebetsi o ka feela. Motho ha a bona di mo tjametse wa resigna
Comment by Sanko on 3 February 2013:
Che Lenkoe, uena e u tabotse nanabolele. Ka bomalimabe/malimatle ha u na chelete ea tjotjo. Itulele, u tla boea sekoele mofokeng!
Comment by Lefefooane on 4 February 2013:
Leqe leqe leqe Rabele leqe. He oa leqetsa monna eo eh!!! It is good that this Rabele case was brought to surface but unfortunately nothing will be done to carry out a wide investigation as to how big this money making sydicate is.
Comment by Takatso on 4 February 2013:
My advise to NUL:
1. Set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the extent of these or similar syndicates especuially in the light of recent publications involving manipulation of marks.
2. The commission should also investigate how the admission processes operate. In fact carry out a campus wide investigation to find out if each student at NUL deserves to be there.
3. Investigate the extent of marks manipulation in return for sexual favours. In recent times there was that scandal involving law lecturer Nkiwane and ssexual favours.
4. NUL should consider a forensic audit to find out how NUL students manage to get drunk yet they manage to pass. It is always annoying how NUL lecturers are always drunk and students are always drunk yet we hear about some 3000 graduating. I always wondered if those numvbers are genuine. Hahona batho ba ka tahoang hakaalo feela ba khona ho pasa. No ways.
Comment by ts'obi on 4 February 2013:
ka moo ke ileng ka poqa ekaba Radebe o ne a le kae chee ke thusehile ho se u tsebe i might have approached you, joale ebe ke entse the headlines
Comment by Letheba on 5 February 2013:
le tsebe o nrutile mokola oona,i just cant belive it ha ke mo nahana!e be sefo o na sa se batle?i doubt it!
Comment by Batho on 5 February 2013:
Damn, this is freakin disgusting. For M1000, a lecturer sells grades ?????? Could n’t the fool realise that he is tarnishing his reputation
Comment by Nna on 6 February 2013:
Take as a challenge guys, be strong, Molimo o tla le thusa
Comment by Nna on 6 February 2013:
Take it as a challenge guys, be strong, Molimo o tla le thusa And Re tla le rapelisa
Comment by Honest lady on 6 February 2013:
Tjo!NTATE EO HMK
Comment by mohau on 9 February 2013:
bophelo bo thata. Uena u ka etsang? Le nna tjotjo nka e ntsha ha monyetla o le teng. Hase mohlolo tjotjo ea sebetsa lesotho mona. Rona ba bang re iphelela ka eona dats y we r wat we are.
Comment by bambie on 24 February 2013:
ha fatuoe balotsana bana.
Comment by LRA on 11 March 2013:
Takatso,taba tsa hao di hlakile nd well heard.we wl take further step to fullfill
Comment by MOSOTHO IN LONDON on 26 March 2013:
HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!! TAKATSO GET A LIFE!!!!!!!!!! YOUR POINT IS WACK! TRY SOMETHING ELSE,