Theft of Unam exam papers claimed

MYSTERY surrounds a burglary at the University of Namibia at the weekend.While The Namibian was informed that University of South Africa (Unisa) exam papers were stolen, the University claimed it had foiled the theft by moving the papers to a safer location before the break-in.

A source told The Namibian that the offices of the centre for external studies, which deals with Unisa papers, were broken into at around 22h00 on Friday and that at least five exam papers were copied and stolen. These included papers on Applied Financial Accounting (TOE407-V), Applied Management Accounting (TOE408-W), Theory of Accounting (TOECTA-E), one law paper and one on credit finance management, the source said.Rosa Persendt, Distance Education Officer at Unam, who deals with Unisa papers, told The Namibian that she had received several boxes of exam papers on Friday and moved them to another office with a safe that same afternoon.Only people in possession of a secret code could enter that office, she said.She said that an adjacent office was broken into but said the thieves were unable to lay their hands on the papers.According to an anonymous source who contacted The Namibian on Saturday morning, the thieves made a hole in the ceiling of a storeroom and entered the room where the papers were kept through the roof.They opened the envelopes, made copies of the exam papers and glued the envelopes shut again, the source claimed.Five South African students allegedly travelled to Windhoek over the weekend to steal the papers, the source said.They allegedly tried to sell one of the papers to a local student for N$2 000.When The Namibian contacted Persendt about the break-in, she was not aware of it.She went to inspect the offices and said that she found that a colleague’s office had been broken into.More details about the mysterious break-in should emerge today when other staff return to work.These included papers on Applied Financial Accounting (TOE407-V), Applied Management Accounting (TOE408-W), Theory of Accounting (TOECTA-E), one law paper and one on credit finance management, the source said.Rosa Persendt, Distance Education Officer at Unam, who deals with Unisa papers, told The Namibian that she had received several boxes of exam papers on Friday and moved them to another office with a safe that same afternoon.Only people in possession of a secret code could enter that office, she said.She said that an adjacent office was broken into but said the thieves were unable to lay their hands on the papers. According to an anonymous source who contacted The Namibian on Saturday morning, the thieves made a hole in the ceiling of a storeroom and entered the room where the papers were kept through the roof.They opened the envelopes, made copies of the exam papers and glued the envelopes shut again, the source claimed.Five South African students allegedly travelled to Windhoek over the weekend to steal the papers, the source said.They allegedly tried to sell one of the papers to a local student for N$2 000.When The Namibian contacted Persendt about the break-in, she was not aware of it.She went to inspect the offices and said that she found that a colleague’s office had been broken into.More details about the mysterious break-in should emerge today when other staff return to work.