The leaking of a University of Zimbabwe (UZ) examination paper has opened a can of worms with fresh revelations that top politicians, security chiefs and other influential people bribe their way through law school.
There is allegedly a syndicate — involving the
well-connected, powerful and financially resourced persons including lecturers
and relatives of UZ authorities — with access to examination papers at the law
faculty before any examination, it has been revealed.
It also emerged that prior to the recent scandal, students
at the university had clashed with lecturers in the law faculty over the
Bachelor of Substantive Laws (BLS) — where the examination paper was leaked.
Harare police provincial intelligence officer Superintendent
Vigai Maunganidze appeared in court recently after he was allegeldy caught with
a UZ law examination paper.
Prosecutors said on October 31 this year, Maunganidze
obtained a UZ faculty of law examination paper for the administrative local government
law module for second year students that was supposed to be written on November
3.
It is alleged that Maunganidze, who was supposed to sit for
the exam, shared the paper via WhatsApp with one Madombi, a Defence ministry
official and third-year BLS student at the UZ.
Madombi allegedly shared the examination paper with Zanu PF
director of Information Tafadzwa Mugwadi, who reportedly promised to lodge a
complaint with the Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology
Development minister.
A UZ law lecturer told The Standard that the leaking of the
paper was a tip of the iceberg as there was a syndicate that organised
examination papers for the powerful, who did not want to attend lectures during
the semester.
“Level 1 has a syndicate whose group is led by one Dubai
Queen,” the source said.
“The group has been asking for cash for people to join the
group as it has privileged access to exam papers prior to the examination date.
“A huge number of students are engaged in corrupt
activities to pass exams, specifically accessing exams prior to the exam day
and alteration of results for those that failed and other means to enable
passes.
“Level 2 class syndicates have been securing exam papers
through the Disability Resource Centre prior to the examination.”
In April this year, Zanu PF legislator Dexter Nduna, a BLS
student, wrote to the UZ administration protesting the way the programme was
being run amid allegations of corruption.
This was after the BLS programme was changed from being a
part-time programme to full-time studies.
“We enrolled for the programme with the understanding
that it was a part-time programme that would allow us to have lessons during
the weekend and after hours as per the advert flighted by the UZ (not the
faculty),” Nduna’s letter dated April 1, 2022 reads in part.
The letter was copied to UZ Law faculty dean Innocent Maja,
Vice Chancellor Paul Mapfumo as well as the chairperson of the Council for
Legal Education Justice Sylvia Chirau-Chigomba and Speaker of Parliament Jacob
Mudenda.
“It seems that the faculty leadership is now a law unto
themselves and a lot of conflicts of interests seem to be the motivating factor
behind decisions (scrapping the BLS programme as part-time) being made.
“Whether it is professional/ethical or standard UZ policy
to tell students to make private arrangements and engagements with individual
lecturers so as to negotiate with them for lectures, and if this does not open
them to sexual harassment, extortion etc as the issue for demanding financial
inducements by lecturers seems to be taking root at the UZ and the authorities
seem to be condoning it under false pretences that these are merely operational
issues under the purviews of faculties.
“Is this not another way of facilitating deplorable
practices?
“It may begin to seem that the removal of weekend BLS
lectures may have other motives as it was indicated that the lecturers can make
other arrangements outside the auspices of the UZ, this involves the payment of
inducements and incentives to the lecturers, particularly those teaching
languages under the guise that they
don’t teach during the weekends.
“Where does this leave those students who are part time? Is
this not a ploy to facilitate the conducting/forcing these students into these
choreographed and well-orchestrated extra lessons?”
However, UZ law lecturers speaking on condition of
anonymity told The Standard that the majority of BLS students did not want to
attend lectures, but wanted to “buy degrees.”
“This is a serious programme, but we have the rich and
politically connected persons who do not want to attend lectures, but want to
be handed degrees on the basis of their status.
“It does not work like that; the credibility of the UZ law
degree is seriously under attack,” one of the lecturers claimed.
UZ authorities from last week were dodging questions on the
institutions’ law degree.
UZ law faculty department chairperson Fredrick Hamadziripi
refused to comment on the corruption allegations.
“Talk to the vice chancellor,” Hamadziripi said. “I am not
aware of that issue and neither have l seen or received any letter.”
Mapfumo, the UZ vice chancellor, said he was not aware of
the subject.
Acting registrar Munyaradzi Madambi said he was in a
meeting when contacted for comment on Friday and could not comment on the
matter.
UZ faculty of law dean Maja hung up the phone after this
reporter had presented questions to him.
Further efforts to get a comment from him were fruitless.
But BLS student and Zanu PF MP Nduna said there was a
lot of corruption in the faculty.
“Some students are attending exams without even attending
lectures yet the regulations stipulate that physical attendance should be 60
hours,” Nduna said.
“We are not saying we should not be treated any differently
(part-time students).
“We just needed to be treated with respect, but what is
happening is that they (lecturers) can recall your transcripts, they are
abusing their positions; what is happening there is very criminal.”
In 2018, former UZ vice chancellor Levy Nyagura was
arrested on charges of abusing his authority by awarding former first lady
Grace Mugabe a PHD degree in 2014.
Senior academic staff distanced themselves from Grace's PhD
saying they never read her research proposal; a key requirement for enrolment.
Standard
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