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4 The Standard September 28 to October 4 2014 Local News Grace’s PhD: UZ reduced to a butt of jokes by PHILLLIP CHIDAVAENZI THE controversy surrounding First Lady Grace Mugabe’s Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) early this month has reduced the former prestigious institution to a butt of crude jokes on social media. “You just phone. There is no problem. You just phone UZ and request them to confer you with a degree. You tell them I am coming there. You just say, ‘it’s Amai…. I am coming there…, give me a doctorate in philosophy. I will be there tomorrow at 12. Prepare a gown for me’,” goes a joke which has gone viral on WhatsApp. The joke started circulating after Vice-President Joice Mujuru and the First Lady were capped by President Robert Mugabe (90) early this month. Former Finance minister Tendai Biti, a Law graduate from the once esteemed university, was the first to take a dig at the UZ. “I want to state publicly that I will never ever have a PhD for obvious reasons. You know what happened,” Biti told a recent meeting discussing the economic crisis bedevilling the country, attracting roars of laughter. Many people took to social networks like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter where they either added PhD after their names or posted that they were now planning to work towards a PhD because it was now easy to acquire. Award–winning author and academic Chenjerai Hove, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Norway for many years, also questioned how Grace ended up bagging the PhD without a traceable record. “Maybe they have been offered honorary degrees, who knows? If they are PhD degrees which have been studied for, then at some point they must have defended the theses publicly in some hall in the university,” Hove said. He observed that the latest developments at the university were likely to dent its reputation as a university of note. “I worked hard to get my UZ degree and if it is so easy for some people to just arrive and get a PhD the following morning, I feel ashamed of my old university. It is a disgrace that a reputable university which has produced so many academics of high standing can do this to us,” he said. The turn of events has also seen analysts questioning the credibility of the incumbent Vice-Chancellor Levi Nyagura — who seems to have presided over the plummeting of standards at university — and condemned himself to live in the shadow of his predecessors Gordon Chavunduka (late), Walter Kamba (late) and Graham Hill. Unlike Nyagura, these esteemed vice-chancellors never exceeded two terms at the helm of the university. During their time the university produced graduates with skills that were in demand all over the world, making Zimbabwe an exporter of exceptional skilled labour. First Lady Grace Mugabe Although the UZ has remained tight-lipped over the award to Grace, several stakeholders have called for investigations into how she landed the revered qualification. The institution’s public relations officer Dennis Rwafa did not respond to questions e-mailed to him two weeks ago but an official from his office last week said the university was going to issue a statement on the matter in due course. “We are going to publish a statement, but I don’t know the exact date [of publication] at the moment,” said the official. A professor at the UZ who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Standard last week that the latest turn of events was likely to have a negative impact on the credibility of the university. “Obviously, this is going to have an impact on how the UZ is ranked because the rankings are done in terms of the research output and teaching processes,” he said. “The international community is watching and they will begin to ask a lot of questions as to what is happening, but this will depend also on how the university is going to respond.” While the UZ is ranked first among the country’s 12 universities, it was pegged at number 91 in top 100 African rankings for 2013, according to 4International Colleges and Universities’ website, www.4icu.org. The UZ follows the British system for PhDs, which requires a student to do extensive research on a single project, under the guidance and supervision of an academic who is an expert in the field. A dissertation of about 100 000 words must be presented at the end of three years of an academic period. Mnangagwa speaks on demos by VENERANDA LANgA JUSTICE, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa [pictured right] has said demonstrations are permissible if they are done with the blessings of the police. Mnangagwa was on Wednesday asked by Buhera West MP Oliver Mandipaka (Zanu PF) to explain before Parliament whether street protests were permissible by law. “We are alive to the fact that demonstrations sometimes start peacefully and end up violent, but I want to have clarity on the management of demonstrations in the country,” Mandipaka, a former police spokesperson said. MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, last week announced he was going to lead street protests to force the ruling Zanu PF government to address the country’s economic crisis. On Tuesday, United Families International Church leader, Emmanuel Makandiwa prophesied bloodshed could take place in Zimbabwe. Some people, especially in Zanu PF, linked the prophecy to the planned protests, but others said this had to do with possible bloody succession fights in the ruling party. According to Mnangagwa, it was imperative for organisers to inform the police of the number of demonstrators they would be expecting. He said this would enable the police to know from the onset if they had the manpower to control the crowd. “If in the opinion of the police the demonstration is proper and would not violate peace, they will allow it,” he said. “If they think that there are possibilities of the breach of peace, they will inform organisers of the demonstration about those reasons and for those organisers to attend to those concerns before they can proceed to hold such demonstrations.” Chapter 4, part 2 of the new constitution stipulates that every person has the right to demonstrate and to present petitions, but these rights must be exercised peacefully. In the past opposition legislators have tried to amend provisions in the Public Order and Security Act, which compelled that would-be demonstrators should seek permission to demonstrate from the police, but these were quashed. Meanwhile, Mnangagwa told Senate on Thursday that calls to behead rapists were not proper in a civilised society. He said Cabinet had made recommendations that there should be amendments to the country’s laws to ensure there were stiff and deterrent sentences for rape offences. Mnangagwa was responding to a question by senator chief Enos Musarurwa who wanted to know government position on sentencing of perpetrators of rape cases. Early this year First Lady, Grace Mugabe suggested the beheading of rapists as a deterrent measure. “Our laws are weak and they need to be strengthened. But I do not agree that the heads of rapists should be cut, but they should be incarcerated for many years, and even given life sentences, but not to cut off their heads,” Mnangagwa said. “We are also seeking guidance from specialist psychologists. People ask us why the sentencing seems to be very light and they are saying the sentencing should be tightened. “For us to give a death sentence — it is impossible. Some are saying the problem is that the perpetrators are given bail and they go back to their homes. We are also looking into that issue. At Cabinet level, we were advised to make amendments here and there to tighten the sentencing.” The minister urged MPs to conscientise people, and work with chiefs, headmen and religious leaders to ensure people desist from rape. No sex at Zanu PF congress — Paradza by bLEssED MHLANgA/ FELuNA NLEyA KADOMA — Zanu PF Mashonaland West Secretary for Administration Kindness Paradza has said party delegates do not indulge in sex while attending party conferences and congresses as they will be seized with serious national issues. “We don’t have sex at congress . . . no no no there is nothing like that, we will be discussing serious national issues which are turned into national strategic documents,” said Paradza to journalists at a National Aids Council (NAC) workshop in Kadoma. At a Zanu PF conference held in Gweru two years ago, commercial sex workers reportedly recorded brisk business with some flocking from places like Kwekwe to satisfy demand among delegates who had come to the city. Paradza, who was responding to questions on whether his party had an HIV and Aids policy in view of the fact that most politicians were known to indulge in casual sex, said Zanu PF was leading the fight against the pandemic. “We do have an Aids policy in our party which is led by our Secretary for Health Dr David Parirenyatwa and this has also become a national policy because our secretary is also the Minister of Health . . . that notion that we go to congress to have sex is wrong,” he said. NAC spokesperson Medelin Dube said Zanu PF had also taken time to invite her organisation during its gatherings to give delegates HIV and Aids education and offer other services which included counselling and testing. “We have been invited during Zanu PF conferences and congresses to offer services which include counselling and testing and the response has been encouraging as delegates take time in between sessions to visit us and get tested,” she said. Paradza also spoke against sexual abuse in newsrooms saying journalists were being subjected to carpet interviews before being offered jobs in a market where employment was scarce. “You also need to look out for yourselves because we know that sexual abuse is rampant in the newsrooms and this exposes you to HIV,” he said.
Local News The Standard September 28 to October 4 2014 5 Residents cry foul over load-shedding MOST households have now resorted to alternative sources of energy such as gas, firewood and paraffin for cooking BY VICTORIA MTOMBA SEVERE power cuts that have rocked the country for the past three weeks will further put a strain on already struggling consumers and industries. Most residential areas are going for more than 10 hours without power, exceeding the normal load-shedding schedule. Home industries such as Siya-so in Mbare are some of the hardest hit resulting in traders losing thousands of dollars’ worth of business every day. Harare Resident Trust director Precious Shumba said numerous complaints have been raised by residents outraged by the never-ending power cuts. “Load-shedding has become a nightmare across suburbs and it’s now for more than nine hours per day. In some suburbs power goes as early as 5am and comes back at around 9pm,” Shumba said. He said Zesa and the Minister of Energy, Dzikamai Mavhaire should publicly explain the latest power crisis to avoid speculation among citizens. Most households have now resorted to more expensive alternative sources of energy such as gas, firewood and paraffin for cooking. Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) advocacy and information co-ordinator Tendai Muchada said power cuts have increased the burden on residents as they have to improvise and resort to other sources of energy. “Some appliances are being damaged due to the power cuts and many domestic chores are disrupted due to these power cuts. Zesa has not notified us on the loadshedding that has been going on,” Muchada said. Energy expert Martin Manhuwa said there was need to support Independent Power Projects to mitigate power shortages using other sources such as solar. “We have a lot of sunshine. Power cuts are disruptive to general events and do not reflect a sign of good customer care,” he said. A Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) official said the organisation would this week meet with the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority to discuss the issue of load-shedding. “We have received complaints but they are not as many as they used to be in the past. We are meeting with Zera next [this] week to discuss the issue of power cuts,” the official said. Many companies, according to the business lobby group, invested in standby generators which were expensive to run but allowed them to continue production. Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company managing director Julian Chinembiri told The Standard on Friday that the current power cuts were meant to provide more electricity to farmers. “We have diverted power to wheat farmers and the season [winter wheat] ends mid-October. We are giving the farmers close to 200 megawatts and we have also increased the power we give Sable Chemicals to 60 megawatts from 40 megawatts,” he said. Sable Chemicals requires 115 megawatts per hour to run its plant at 100% capacity but the company was receiving 40 megawatts that was adequate for four units. Sable Chemicals has been failing to service its debt to Zesa due to various challenges that it has been facing. Chinembiri added that one of the six units at Kariba was under care and maintenance. “Each generator at Kariba produces 133 megawatts so the one that is under care and maintenance has resulted in a loss of power of 133 megawatts to the grid. We hope by October 4 2014 it will be working,” he said. Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union president Wonder Chabikwa confirmed that this was the first time the power utility had prioritised wheat production. “We have been receiving power 100% every day. We expect our yields to be four tonnes per hectare,” he said. Chabikwa said the farmers were starting to harvest the wheat that they planted in May. Zimbabwe produces 1 200 megawatts of power against a demand of 2 200 megawatts per day. The country supplements the power deficit with imports from other countries in the region. Zimbabwe has not been able to invest in new power generation for over 20 years, which has resulted in more demand for power compared to the supply side which has been on a downward trend. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Denny.pdf 1 9/23/14 6:28 PM Harare Power Station . . . Zesa is supplying electricity to wheat farmers
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