Harare: Zimbabwe’s former First Lady, Grace Mugabe is set to be dragged to court over a ‘fake’ PhD degree awarded to her in 2014 by the University Of Zimbabwe (UZ).
UZ vice chancellor, Professor Levi Nyagura was granted bail on Saturday following his arrest on Friday over Grace’s PhD degree.
He faces criminal abuse of office charges over his role in allegedly facilitating Grace’s PhD degree.
The former First Lady is set to appear in court once Nyagura’s trial begins.
UZ Sociology department lecturers have said they have no records of the former first lady’s work.
Grace was awarded a PhD in sociology three months after enrolment in what critics said was a “jealousy” move to equal then Vice-President Joice Mujuru who was also capped at the same time with her.
Once a secretary in Mugabe’s office, she was thrust into the spotlight when it emerged that she had given birth to the president’s child while his first wife, Sally, lay bedridden due to a kidney ailment.
Sally died in 1992. Mugabe later claimed that Sally knew and approved of Grace, who was also married at the time.
Her hitherto unknown academic prowess has raised eyebrows.
Past reports in Zimbabwe said she had dropped out of a correspondence course at the University of London after failing most of the exams with marks as low as 7%.
