Justice Dube
made the ruling during a case management meeting held in her chambers, saying
deferring the event at the 11th hour would inconvenience the graduates.
The lecturers,
who have been on strike since April demanding a salary review, accuse the
university authorities of plotting to dish out ‘bogus’ degrees as the graduates
hardly attended lecturers.
The Association
of University Teachers (AUT), wanted the graduation programme deferred until
students have attended full lectures under qualified personnel.
The lecturers
are represented by advocate Thabani Mpofu, instructed by Webster Jiti of Jiti
Law Chambers.
AUT president
Phillemon Chambaruka argued that allowing the graduation ceremony to proceed
would be a travesty of justice as the whole process was marred by
irregularities which include appointment
of adjunct lecturers without the consent of the Departmental Board.
In 2014, the UZ
suffered severe reputational damage after awarding a PHD Degreeto former First
Lady Grace Mugabe under similar circumstances, resulting in the prosecution of
then vice-chancellor Levi Nyagura, the AUT argued. Newsday
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