Mujuru's PhD mysterious appears at UZ library

THE mysterious appearance of vice president Joice Mujuru's thesis in the University of Zimbabwe Library barely a month after she graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy degree alongside Grace Mugabe who also earned a philosophy degree has further fuelled debate on the authenticity of the first lady's doctorate.

Today the Herald reported that out of the 12 doctorates, only the VP's thesis titled "A Strategic Exploratory Entrepreneurship Study of Sustainable Agricultural Business: Case Studies of Mitchel and Mitchel in Mashonaland East and Dotito Irrigation Scheme in Mashonaland Central Province" is on the library shelf and has been archived.

In the past few weeks the local and international media has questioned the authenticity of Grace's doctorate with some reports claiming that she enrolled at the University of Zimbabwe a few months before the graduation ceremony

And the mysterious appearance of only VP Mujuru's thesis on the library shelf out of the 12 theses points to a sinister agenda on the part of those behind the media offensive to fuel their allegations on the First Lady's PhD.

A senior academic at the University of Zimbabwe, who didn't want to be named given how the matter has been politicised, yesterday told the Herald that the process of authenticating, indexing and publishing dissertations and the theses took at least 12 months after graduation.

"When the student's final thesis has been accepted by the supervisor or nominated academic (by the Panel of Examiners) the student submits bound copies and a CD to the Post-Graduate Centre. These items are then submitted or deposited to the library.

"The library will also place the thesis in a queue so that it can be processed (indexing and cataloguing are carried out by the library) until the thesis is finally placed on the shelf and the university's e-resources. These processes take a while after graduation.

"Some thesis will take about a year or more to be available on the shelves of the library. There is, however, no stipulated time on how long it will take to have a thesis available in the library. But surely it cannot be found in the library's shelf immediately after graduation. It is highly unusual and raises eyebrows," the academic said.

A staffer in the Great Library also said whoever was behind the mysterious appearance of the VP's thesis wanted the spotlight on the First Lady's doctorate by virtue of the absence of her thesis.

"It's a clear abuse of the VP and the First Lady. The move is meant to raise questions about the authenticity of the First Lady's academic achievements, yet the records are there to prove that she went through all the processes."

Mugabe's thesis is titled "The Changing Social Structure of the Family: The Case of Children's Homes in Zimbabwe" obviously motivated by her philanthropic work countrywide and at the state-of-the-art orphanage and children's home she built in Mazowe.