Mushowe, who is one of President Robert Mugabe’s close associates and also the resident Minister for Manicaland, was allegedly admitted into a Masters in Public Administration degree at the UZ, yet he did not have the mandatory first degree. After admission, Mushowe allegedly failed one of his subjects twice with a 48 per cent mark, but the university allegedly changed his mark to reflect a 50 per cent pass mark.
The case is one of several corruption scandals released by the regional anti-corruption watchdog earlier this year, which reflected badly on Mugabe’s 32-year-old administration.
The ACT-SA letter is apparently the second one sent to Nyagura in less than a month.
“In the interest of transparency, we are kindly requesting information on the current status of the matter and whether Christopher Mushowe was finally awarded the Masters Degree in Public Administration,” said the organisation’s regional coordinator, Alouis Chaumba.
Mushowe sued senior Zimbabwean journalist, Basildon Peta, then working for Modus Publications, and John Makumbe, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, for speaking out against the practice. Mushowe lost the case when the court dismissed his lawsuit with costs on the grounds that the university rules had been violated.
ACT-SA said UZ officials who facilitated Mushowe’s admittance should face penalties and the public should be advised of the outcome of the case.
However, instead of soliciting a response from the UZ, the organisation’s letter seems to have put it in the radar of Mugabe’s feared state security agents, with revelations that some police officers, purportedly from the Criminal Investigations Department, stormed the organisation’s offices last Monday.
They were looking for Chaumba, who was out of office on the day.
“They didn’t disclose the purpose of their visit,” Chaumba told The Zimbabwean early this week. “They were two males, one who said he was Detective Sergeant Kahomba and another one said to be Justice. Instead of focusing their attention on the cases reported, I find it
disturbing that I am now being victimised. It shows that no efforts
are being made to combat corruption at high levels in my country.”
Post published in: News
All these cases should be resurrected and haunt the perpetrators. Thanks to ACT-SA for writing a report and following up on its recommendations. You are different from the rest of the CSOs. Keep It Up. The University of Zimbabwe must explain. We Zimbabweans need to know.