The Fake Doctorate Files

Nanette Silukhuni and Munacho Mutezo - When the cop is a thief

Nanette Silukhuni rose to become a commissioner at Zimbabwe's Anti-Corruption Commission even though she had a fake PhD. She did not get arrested or face any sanction. Instead, she moved to the Ministry of Information. Munacho Mutezo, once a Cabinet minister, was a political heavyweight who even landed on US sanctions (2005–2017). In 2018, he was investigated over Wicknell Chivayo’s Gwanda solar project and had a $335,000 RBZ debt he never repaid. Touted as a brilliant technocrat when appointed, Mutezo had an impressive résumé. But there’s one detail often overlooked—his PhD. It’s fake.

Dumisani Madzivanyati - The NUST lecturer with a dodgy briefcase

The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) employed a man with a dodgy degree. Dumi Madzivanyati, famous for pointing a gun at a man who peed near his car and invading a lawyer's farm, was Chairman of the Department of Accounting Sciences (2013 to 2019). Dumi's colleagues, the ones with real PhDs, suspected something was wrong after seeing how poor his output was - "it just wasn't PhD material", they said. Yet, NUST did not act. Instead, just after we sent questions to them, Dumi's LinkedIn quickly disappeared.

Walter Mzembi: Former minister has a 'maybe degree' from a ghost university

Walter Mzembi calls himself Dr Mzembi, but there’s a problem—his doctorate comes from a university that doesn’t exist. A school with the same name doesn’t even offer PhDs. The synopsis he submitted? It points to someone else. It gets deeper. Mzembi claims to have graduated from UNISA in South Africa, yet his degree is from a university in the Philippines. A metadata analysis reveals his synopsis was finalised on December 2, 2015. Just five days later, he had a PhD. How did this happen? We investigate the truth behind Mzembi’s mysterious doctorate.

Tatenda Mavetera, the minister who loves a title but hates the work

Tatenda Mavetera wants to be a doctor—so much so that she paid for a bogus one, which she still uses. She also spent on a Mutare-based academic to do a PhD on her behalf. She is willing to pull out all the stops - bar one - she won’t go to school, nor do it correctly. The Ministry of ICT in Zimbabwe website names Hon. Dr Tatenda Mavetera as the minister responsible for that portfolio. But, there is a problem - and it is serious. Tatenda Mavetera may be an honourable member, but she is absolutely not a Dr. Regrettably, It is another hoax - a ruse perpetuated by none other than Mavetera herself. This is the full story about her bogus doctorate... And it includes other prominent names too.