'Fake' Doctorate degrees probed

The Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (Zimche) yesterday said the regulatory body would soon investigate circumstances in which musician Oliver Mtukudzi and nine other prominent Zimbabweans were conferred with honorary doctorate degrees by an unregistered organisation.

Mtukudzi and nine other prominent Zimbabweans were recently conferred with Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters (DHL) degrees by little-known International Institute of Philanthropy (IIP) in recognition of their "contribution to humanity."

Although Zimche was not yet prepared to clarify the situation yesterday, some officials within the regulatory body told NewsDay that the awarding of degrees was the sole privilege of universities, not charitable organisations.

Sibanda on Monday maintained that his outfit was not bogus, although he evaded several questions raised by NewsDay.