HARARE – The High Court has dismissed with costs an application by former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) acting chief executive officer Wisdom Hombarume seeking to block the public broadcaster from stopping paying his salary and perks.
Hombarume is on suspension from the ZBC for allegedly lying to his employers that he went to Botswana for a week-long workshop when he was in Harare instead.
He took the matter to the High Court after the broadcaster abruptly terminated his salary and other perks following a discovery by the ZBC that he had a dodgy degree.
In the latest setback for Hombarume, Justice David Mangota dismissed his urgent application, finding that he misled the court.
Mangota said Hombarume sought to conceal important information regarding the reasons behind the suspension of his salary and benefits. The judge said the application was a “limping duck” and fatally defective due to material non-disclosure, and ordered it struck off the roll of urgent matters.
The Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (Zimche), which is responsible for quality assurance on higher education, confirmed to Hombarume’s employers that his degree was suspicious.
The degree was acquired from Pakistan’s Ashwood University.
Zimche wrote to the ZBC: “As per your application, the verification of the qualification awarded to Wisdom Hombarume which was offered by the Ashwood University in Pakistan was done.
“Please be advised that the qualification, namely Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree, was awarded by an unaccredited institution.
“The Ashwood University is not accredited in its own country of origin, Pakistan. As a matter of principle, Zimche does not recognise foreign qualifications awarded by institutions that are not accredited in their own country. Therefore, the qualification is not recognised in Zimbabwe.”
Hombarume was suspended with benefits in July 2020 following his arrest on allegations of fraud involving a business trip to Botswana for which he collected allowances from the ZBC.
