The highest ranking official at the University of Zimbabwe‚ vice-chancellor professor Levy Nyagura‚ was on Friday night picked up by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) over the awarding of former First Lady Grace Mugabe with a Doctor of Philosophy (PHD).
According to the charge sheet‚ Nyagura "recommended without the approval of the university council" that Mugabe‚ the wife of ousted Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe‚ be awarded with the degree.
ZACC spokeswoman Phylis Chikundura said the academic would appear in court on Saturday morning at about 10am.
"He's in custody. He will have his day in court tomorrow facing abuse of office charges‚" she said.
The arrest comes after the university's sociology department in January petitioned the ZACC to look into the matter‚ which they described as suspicious.
The petition said that the award was "a shock to many members of the department" and that most members only heard of Mugabe's graduation in the media and saw pictures in the university calendar. It added that department staff did not see Mugabe's research proposal‚ progress reports‚ thesis examiners not the outcome of the research.
At the time‚ the ZACC issued a statement saying it had received a complaint but was not pursuing the matter.
Also at the same time‚ about four years after the degree was awarded in 2014‚ it was not readily available on the university's online platform. It was uploaded only at the end of January this year - and Nyagura claimed it had been at the university's library all along and also warned and cautioned lectures who “are ignorant of the university's ordinances”.
When it was uploaded‚ the document titled 'The Changing Social Structures and Functions of the Family: The Case of Children’s Homes in Zimbabwe'‚ some academics said it was akin to academic fraud and was not fit to stand even as an undergraduate study.
Meanwhile‚ this week government reduced the number of security details assigned to Robert Mugabe and his wife. The state also withdrew security detail manning their daughter Bona's Harare home.
Insiders say the drastic measure was taken to punish Robert Mugabe for meeting opposition leader Joice Mujuru amid suspicion that Mugabe was working on a way around pairing his wife and Mujuru to lead an opposition outfit.
Zimbabwean professor arrested over Grace Mugabe's dodgy PhD
According to the charge sheet‚ Nyagura "recommended without the approval of the university council" that Mugabe‚ the wife of ousted Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe‚ be awarded with the degree.
ZACC spokeswoman Phylis Chikundura said the academic would appear in court on Saturday morning at about 10am.
"He's in custody. He will have his day in court tomorrow facing abuse of office charges‚" she said.
The arrest comes after the university's sociology department in January petitioned the ZACC to look into the matter‚ which they described as suspicious.
The petition said that the award was "a shock to many members of the department" and that most members only heard of Mugabe's graduation in the media and saw pictures in the university calendar. It added that department staff did not see Mugabe's research proposal‚ progress reports‚ thesis examiners not the outcome of the research.
At the time‚ the ZACC issued a statement saying it had received a complaint but was not pursuing the matter.
Also at the same time‚ about four years after the degree was awarded in 2014‚ it was not readily available on the university's online platform. It was uploaded only at the end of January this year - and Nyagura claimed it had been at the university's library all along and also warned and cautioned lectures who “are ignorant of the university's ordinances”.
When it was uploaded‚ the document titled 'The Changing Social Structures and Functions of the Family: The Case of Children’s Homes in Zimbabwe'‚ some academics said it was akin to academic fraud and was not fit to stand even as an undergraduate study.
Meanwhile‚ this week government reduced the number of security details assigned to Robert Mugabe and his wife. The state also withdrew security detail manning their daughter Bona's Harare home.
Insiders say the drastic measure was taken to punish Robert Mugabe for meeting opposition leader Joice Mujuru amid suspicion that Mugabe was working on a way around pairing his wife and Mujuru to lead an opposition outfit.
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