Grace Mugabe’s PhD case postponed

The trial of suspended University of Zimbabwe vice-chancellor Levi Nyagura on allegations of illegally awarding a PhD to former First Lady Grace Nthombizodwa Mugabe has been postponed to 13 October. Legalbrief reports that Mugabe was given a doctoral degree in sociology in September 2014, two months after entering the programme. She was awarded the degree by her husband and university chancellor Robert Mugabe. Her doctoral thesis was not published in the university archive and she has faced calls to return the PhD. Nyagura was arrested in 2018 by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and charged with abuse of office following an investigation into the scandal. During the last hearing, former Cabinet Minister Tichaendepi Robert Masaya told the court that ‘no favour’ was shown in the award of the doctorate to Mugabe. The Herald reports that Masaya became dean of the faculty of social studies after Mugabe had already been accepted as a student.