HARARE – Former University of Zimbabwe (UZ) vice chancellor Levi Nyagura on Wednesday challenged President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s special anti-corruption unit saying it is an unlawful entity to preside over case.

Nyagura, charged with criminal abuse of office charges over a PhD awarded to former First Lady Grace Mugabe by the University of Zimbabwe, said this when he appeared before Harare magistrate Lazini Ncube.

His trial failed to start after he raised concerns saying the prosecutors from the special unit will prejudice his case.

“We challenge the prosecutors’ authority to present this case before this court or any other court and we are applying for referral of this case to the Constitutional Court for a decision and way forward. We want to question whether the granting of authority to prosecute the accused or other persons by the president or anyone other than National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is lawful,” said his lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri.

Nyagura said NPA and the Prosecutor General (PG) should be independent but in this case, they were likely to take orders from the President.

“Their salaries are paid by the President. They are bound by the Official Secrets Act. People who can assist the PG are provided for by the statute, but these prosecutors have not been appointed under the Act of Parliament and in any event the terms of their appointment conflicts with powers of NPA,” said Uriri.

Nyagura is answering to criminal abuse of office charges after he allegedly illegally awarded former First Lady Grace Mugabe a doctorate without following procedures in 2014.

The special anti-corruption unit was established by Mnangagwa in May this year to improve efficiency in the fight against graft and it is housed in the Office of the President and Cabinet. A special court was also set up at the Harare Magistrate’s court.

Representing the state in this case is Tapiwa Godzi and Michael Chakandida who challenged the application saying it was invalid.

The two told court that they are qualified lawyers, licenced to operate in Zimbabwe by NPA as such there was nothing special about Nyagura’s case.

“The accused’s application is not valid and is only directed at delaying this matter,” said Godzi.

“This is not the first time Uriri has dealt with prosecutors who are in my shoes. The court needs to take a judicial notice that the lawyer is representing Wicknell Chivayo in this same court but has never raised such concerns.”

The two prosecutors are registered lawyers in private practice.

Ncube is expected to make his ruling on the application this Thursday.

Prosecutors say Nyagura broke the UZ’s own guidelines on awarding a PhD. The correct procedure, they argue, is that a supervisor for a PhD student must be approved by the departmental board.

Only the board is mandated to accept applications and allocate supervisors to students in terms of general academic regulations for the post-graduate degrees of UZ. In Nyagura’s case, it is alleged he irregularly usurped the board’s powers and covertly appointed two professors to supervise Grace.

The state said some staff who should have participated in the process were side-lined.