Dexter Nduna Finally Graduates with Law Degree After Fake Graduation Scandal
Former Chegutu West legislator and Zanu-PF Central Committee member, Dexter Nduna, has officially earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) at the institution’s 44th graduation ceremony in Harare on Friday.
Nduna’s graduation comes after a very public controversy last year, when he falsely claimed to have completed the degree. In September 2024, UZ confirmed that he had not met the graduation requirements, contradicting his social media posts congratulating himself.
At the time, a leaked university memo revealed that Nduna had failed three courses: Energy and Mining Law, Labour Law, and Language Acquisition and Intercultural Communication Literacy (Chinese Language). Despite this, he purchased a graduation gown and attended the ceremony, though he was not seated with the other law graduates. His appeal for exam remarking—where he alleged political bias—was rejected by the university. Nduna later issued a public apology to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the nation for misleading the public.
After completing the outstanding modules during the 2024/2025 academic year, Nduna’s name appeared on this year’s official graduation roll, marking his legitimate conferment of the law degree.
Nduna’s history is not without controversy. Between 2018 and 2023, the Chegutu West parliamentary seat was mired in a protracted election dispute. In the July 2018 elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) initially declared Nduna the winner, only to later admit a counting error showing that opposition MDC-Alliance candidate Gift Konjana had received more votes. ZEC said only the courts could reverse the result.
Konjana filed a High Court application in August 2018, but Justice Mary Zimba-Dube dismissed it on a technicality. He then appealed to the Supreme Court in November 2018, a case that, by law, should have been resolved within three months. Instead, hearings were repeatedly delayed, including due to Nduna’s lawyers failing to file papers, dragging the matter out for more than two years.
In May 2019, Justice Rita Makarau indicated the appeal should proceed, but a later bench led by Justice Bharat Patel questioned whether the case could continue because the legal time limit had lapsed. The Supreme Court finally delivered its judgment in 2023—two years and eight months after ZEC’s admitted error—dismissing the appeal on the grounds that the time limit had been exceeded.
During this long process, Nduna served in parliament and drew full benefits, even though ZEC’s records showed he had lost the election. Critics argued that the delays violated Zimbabwe’s Constitution and Electoral Act, undermined democracy, and eroded the rule of law.
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The post Dexter Nduna Finally Graduates with Law Degree After Fake Graduation Scandal appeared first on iHarare News.
