SCANDAL: UZ chancellor Mugabe marked wife's 'fake' PhD

OUTGOING Zanu PF women's league boss Oppah Muchinguri shockingly revealed yesterday, that President Robert Mugabe marked the First Lady Grace Mugabe's PhD papers.

Muchinguri made the remarks while addressing hundreds of vendors and cross-border traders gathered at Grace's Mazowe Children's Home to endorse her candidature ahead of next month's elective congress.

Muchinguri said Mugabe had assisted in marking Grace's thesis at their home before she was conferred with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) titled "The Changing Social Structure, the Functions of the Family: The Case of Children's Homes in Zimbabwe".

"Amai Mugabe spent sleepless nights studying for her PhD while President Mugabe marked for her," she said unwittingly.

Muchinguri's statements will all but reignite questions about Grace's PhD, considering that her husband is not qualified to supervise a PhD candidate since he has never been a university lecturer.

The revelation is further evidence to claims that Mugabe who is the chancellor of all State Universities played a role in having his wife controversially conferred with a PhD by the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) in September this year.

The UZ is to date still to reveal Grace's supervisor, the local examiners and the external examiner who validated her thesis.

On the other hand, government officials have been at pains to justify Grace's PhD, with each explanation more bizarre than the previous one.

To further complicate issues, Grace's thesis is not available in the UZ library or online. Grace is believed to hold a degree from a Chinese university, but her academic record is less than stellar, having dismally failed her English degree studies with the University of London as an external student.