Grace Mugabe’s PhD investigated by Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption watchdog

ZIMBABWEAN anti-corruption investigators are probing whether former first lady Grace Mugabe fraudulently obtained a doctorate that she apparently received within months, the dissertation for which remains unpublished.

Grace Mugabe, whose apparent desire to succeed her husband prompted the army takeover that eventually saw Robert Mugabe resign, was awarded a PhD by the University of Zimbabwe in 2014.

Critics argued at the time that Grace Mugabe had not actually studied or undertaken research to earn the doctorate and that she had been handed her diploma just months after enrolling. PhDs typically require several years of full-time research and writing.

Her dissertation has never been made public, according to local media, breaking with the established policy of most Zimbabwean public universities to publish doctoral students’ theses.

The state-run Herald newspaper reported in 2014 that her dissertation was on the theme of “changing social structure [and] the functions of the family” and that she undertook research on Zimbabwean children’s homes.

Grace Mugabe was personally capped by her husband, the then-president and also the chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, and praised by other government officials who defended the controversial degree award.

“We confirm there is such a report and there is such a probe,” said Zimbabwe anti-corruption commission spokeswoman Phyllis Chikundura, who declined to provide further details.