Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption agency is investigating whether the former First Lady Grace Mugabe fraudulently obtained a doctorate.<\/p>\n
Lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe filed a petition last week asking to investigate.<\/p>\n
She was awarded the PhD just months after enrolling at university in 2014 even though doctorates typically require years of full-time research.<\/p>\n
Mrs Mugabe has previously defended her academic record.<\/p>\n
In September, she told a governing party rally that she had earned her PhD despite her detractors’ scepticism.<\/p>\n
Africa Live: Updates on this and other stories<\/p>\n
Mrs Mugabe was awarded a PhD by the University of Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
But lecturers at the same institution are behind the petition to investigate how she obtained the qualification.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe Independent, a privately owned newspaper, quotes the academics’ petition as saying\u00a0they had no knowledge of her 2014 graduation until they heard media reports:<\/p>\n
“This was a shock to many members of the department as most members never [saw] or heard about the proposal, progress reports, thesis examiners and outcome of such a study by the candidate.”<\/p>\n
Local media report that Mrs Mugabe’s doctoral thesis has not been made public, breaking with usual practice.<\/p>\n
Mrs Mugabe was personally capped by her husband and then-president Robert Mugabe, who was also the chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
She had hoped to replace her husband as leader, but antagonised a faction of the ruling Zanu-PF party which led to a fallout within the party.<\/p>\n
The military then stepped in and forced President Mugabe to end his 37-year rule and installed his former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, as president.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption agency is investigating whether the former First Lady Grace Mugabe fraudulently obtained a doctorate. Lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe filed a petition last week asking to investigate. She was awarded the PhD just months after enrolling at university in 2014 even though doctorates typically require years of full-time research. Mrs Mugabe has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":390098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n