Prof Nyagura hits back on Grace PhD
matter to the police. We have since arrested a suspect Tungamirayi Kokerai who stays in Garikai Suburb in Gwanda and he is assisting police with investigations,” she said.
Ass Insp Mangena appealed to members of the public not to resort to violence when resolving disputes.
A source close to the investigations who preferred anonymity said Kokerai met the now deceased while he was walking with a sex worker at around 3AM in Phakama Suburb.
He said Kokerai demanded to know why the now deceased was walking with his girlfriend which resulted in an altercation.
“The now deceased was coming from a night club with a sex worker that he had hired for the night. On their way they met Kokerai who accused the now deceased of walking with his girlfriend.
“The two men started quarrelling and Kokerai drew a knife which he used to stab the now deceased four times. The now deceased who was seriously injured went to a nearby house to seek help but he didn’t get any response and bled to death while leaning against the durawall,” said the source.
He said the now deceased’s body was found in that yard.
The deceased’s relatives who were part of the mob that stood guard to stop Kokerai from leaving the house where police took him to seek refuge, said they wanted to deal with him themselves as they alleged they did not have confidence in the police.
“We want to deal with him ourselves because police are very corrupt and they will just pretend to arrest him but he will be walking scot free two days later. It’s painful that our relative was killed in such a way and his assailant should pay for what he did.
“He is a murderer and he deserves to be killed himself. We are not leaving this place and we won’t allow him to leave unless we have dealt with him,” she said.
When the cops finally escorted Kokerai into a police vehicle after several attempts to negotiate with the deceased’s relatives the mob threw stones at him and tried to attack him but police officers managed to shield him.— @DubeMatutu.. UNIVERSITY of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor Professor Levi Nyagura has hit back at lecturers in the department of sociology for challenging the awarding of a doctorate to former First Lady Grace Mugabe claiming they were “ignorant Messrs and doctors” with no academic capacity to supervise a PhD student.
In an interview yesterday on demands by 10 lecturers for the university to revoke Mrs Mugabe’s PhD, Prof Nyagura said PhD students were supervised by the post graduate centre and not a teaching department.
“There is no way that they could have supervised the candidate because a doctorate is not done by a teaching department. It is done by a post graduate centre,” said Prof Nyagura.
He dismissed allegations that the thesis was not in the library until this year.
Prof Nyagura claimed the thesis was deposited at the university library in 2014.
“Those are all lies. The thesis has always been in the library since 2014,” he said.
Professor Nyagura said Mrs Mugabe’s thesis was supervised by two professors, who also supervised former Vice President Joice Mujuru.
In relation to Professor Mararike’s appointment, Professor Nyagura said the position required a candidate with traceable academic credentials, which the whole department lacked.
“Whoever is challenging the appointment of Professor Mararike is ignorant of the university’s ordinance laws, which is why maybe they are not professors. The laws say ‘may’ consult not ‘must’ consult,” he said.
Professor Nyagura said the university was ready to defend its position should the lecturers consider taking a legal route.
Earlier in the year, 10 lecturers from the department of sociology challenged Professor Nyagura to revoke and nullify Mrs Mugabe’s doctorate arguing that it was awarded unprocedurally. Supervised by Professor Claude Mararike, Mrs Mugabe graduated with the Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Social Studies in September 2014.
Through their lawyer Ms Fiona Iliff from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, the lecturers said they were shocked to hear that Mrs Mugabe had been awarded a doctorate from their department when they never saw her application, acceptance letter, supervision and even awarding of the degree.
“The Sociology Department Board has never approved anything in respect of the candidate’s research or thesis. The members of the Sociology Department Board were shocked at the news that the candidate was awarded the degree by the Sociology Department.
“All the requisite procedures were not followed in toto, and there was complete disregard of university rules, processes and procedures,” said the lectures in their letter of concern dated January 29 2018 to the University’s Vice Chancellor Professor Levi Nyagura.
The 10 lecturers are: Prof Rudo Gaidzanwa, Drs Sandra Bhatasara, Julius Musevenzi, Fenton Ruparanganda, Gutsa, Mandizadza, Sadomba, Mate and Messrs Nelson Muparamoto and T Chevo.
The lecturers further alleged that as at January 8 2018, Mrs Mugabe’s thesis was not in the university library.
“All things considered, the awarding of the degree under such circumstances was unethical, unprofessional, and unprocedural, as the quality of the final product was not controlled by qualified professionals if at all any research was conducted to warrant conferment of such a degree.
“The awarding of the degree constitutes academic corruption and criminal abuse of office in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23) on the part of anyone implicated in awarding the degree at the University.”
With regards to Professor Mararike’s appointment, the lecturers alleged that he was appointed without their consultation as stipulated in the ordinance regulations.
They said Prof Mararike whom they allege was Mrs Mugabe’s supervisor was not a suitable candidate to act as chairperson of the Sociology department board since he was on a temporary contract at the university.
“Your appointment of Professor C. Mararike was in breach of sections 4.2 and 4.7 of ordinance number 25 of the University of Zimbabwe, in that no consultation with members of the Sociology department board was ever done,” alleged the lecturers.
Sources close to Mrs Mugabe’s PhD thesis saga claim that the department of Sociology has handled many other PhD students.
They said in the event that the department lacked competences in line with the student’s thesis, it is the department which seeks supervisors from other departments contrary to what transpired in Mrs Mugabe’s doctorate.
The sources also dismissed Prof Nyagura’s claims that no one in the department was qualified to hold the position of acting chairperson saying there was a full professor and four Doctors.