HARARE – A University of Zimbabwe (UZ) lecturer has launched an urgent High Court bid to stop the institution’s August 15 graduation ceremony, accusing the administration of pushing through with “compromised” examination results in the middle of a lecturers’ strike.
Dr Phillemon M. Chamburuka, representing the Association of University Teachers under a formal resolution, wants the court to grant an interdict preventing the UZ Council, Vice Chancellor, and other officials from “conducting, presiding over, or facilitating” the event until a full forensic audit of the 2024–2025 second semester is completed.
In his founding affidavit, Dr Chamburuka warns: “The rights of both students and the integrity of the university’s academic programmes are under grave threat. To proceed with graduation under these circumstances will irreparably prejudice graduates whose qualifications may later be invalidated due to compromised processes.”
The affidavit paints a picture of chaos on campus during the semester, with industrial action allegedly leaving “entire courses untaught or inadequately covered.” He says examinations were set, moderated, and marked “without the minimum academic safeguards” normally required by the university’s statutes.
A confidential Senate report annexed to the application accuses the institution of “gross irregularities in teaching, research supervision, and examination processes.” It cites instances where project marking was inconsistent, invigilation standards were ignored, and grade moderation was either skipped or improperly done.
A memo from the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, dated May 27 – admits there were “serious gaps in the teaching and assessment cycle” but suggests pushing ahead with exams “in order to protect the academic calendar.”
Correspondence over results, detailed in the application, records “discrepancies in grading, including instances where final marks awarded to students deviated significantly from moderated scores without justification.”
The court papers also include a statement from the University of Zimbabwe Students Union, warning: “Proceeding with graduation while the academic integrity of the results is in question will damage the reputation of the university and the value of its degrees.”
Dr Chamburuka says repeated efforts to engage the UZ Council were ignored.
He filed the application after the graduation date was formally announced on the university portal.
Also attached is a letter from the Council of Social Work, cautioning that graduates from compromised programmes could be registered as professionals “without having met the requisite training and competency standards.”
The draft order asks the High Court to halt all graduation preparations, compel the university to commission an independent audit, and publish its findings before awarding any degrees.
University officials were not immediately available for comment.
The case has not yet been set down for hearing.
