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A 20 year old teacher trainee of the Nusrat Jahan Ahmadiyya College of Education at Wa in the Upper West Region, Uthman Anuwar Sadat was on Friday handed a 12 months jail term by the Wa Circuit Court for impersonating as a student at the just ended Private Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The court presided over by Mr Jonathan Avogo said the sentence was in line with West African Examination Council (WAEC) Act 2006 Act 719 on examination malpractice.
The Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Martin Degbortse told the court that the accused was arrested on September 20 during the Ghanaian language (Dagaare) paper at the WAEC hall which served as a centre for the private BECE candidates this year.
He indicated that at the time of arrest, the convict had already written seven papers from Monday to Thursday and was on the eighth paper which apparently was the last paper for the pupil he impersonated whose name was given as Daud Hamdan Kunateh.
The Prosecutor said the exam was originally registered by Daud who was expected to rewrite his papers in the private exam but said the accused showed up instead and was caught on Thursday when luck eluded him.
The accused pleaded guilty to four counts on impersonation for four days and was sentenced to three months for each count to run cumulatively.
Passing the sentence, Mr Avogo explained that the conduct of the teacher trainee did not portray him as a potential good teacher and said he would be a bad role model in society.
Speaking to the media after the case was heard, the Regional Controller of the WAEC, Mr Donald Tuor described the case as a landmark case stating that most culprits walked away with a fine which in his opinion was not deterrent enough.
He used the opportunity to advise the general public to avoid using dubious means to attain academic qualification and said when caught, they law would deal with them accordingly.
