Job Sikhala faces UZ cheat probe

By Zvamaida Murwira

Harare- MDC-99 leader and former St Mary’s legislator Job Sikhala has been accused of “academic fraud” after he allegedly asked two fellow University of Zimbabwe law students to write an assignment for him. Sikhala has since stopped going to the UZ after getting wind that he is under investigation.

The politician allegedly asked the students to write an assignment on Criminal Procedure for him after he had reportedly failed the subject a number of times. It is understood that Sikhala wanted to then condense the two papers into one and then hand the assignment in as if he had written it.

However, the two students unwittingly submitted their separate papers – both bearing Sikhala’s name – to the lecturer for marking. Law Faculty staff noticed the anomaly, including that the papers were in different handwritings and immediately instituted investigations.The incident occurred last year after Sikhala enrolled as a law student using the mature entry route.

Sikhala was repeating the second part of the three-year degree programme after having earlier been asked to defer his studies because of failing. Yesterday, Sikhala accused the Dean of Law, Emmanuel Magade, of being a Zanu-PF activist.

“To start with, I already have a degree from the University of Zimbabwe. I decided to study law just out of personal interest. I did not leave the programme, but decided to complete the programme at my own pace with a foreign university as I am always a busy man.”

“The issues you are asking are that there are a lot of spanners that were thrown at me by Zanu-PF activists. The Dean is a Zanu-PF activist, he raised frivolous allegations against me and I left. What people need to know is that it is not an academic offence to ask a fellow student just to research for you. It’s not an academic crime.”

Magade dismissed Mr Sikhala’s allegations and said the ex-legislator’s woes were – unlike the assignment – of his own authoring. He said Sikhala’s lecturer had raised the complaint.

“If you look at the two assignments it is patently clear that they were authored by two different people. If you look at Sikhala’s exam script, it’s quite clear that the two assignments do not bear any resemblance to his handwriting neither do they bear any resemblance to each other.”

“For him to claim that I harbour ill-will or antipathy towards him is not only preposterous but infantile and devoid of truth,” Mr Magade said. “All I am interested in is the maintenance of standards and in this case I am marking the ball and not the man.

“The lecturer in charge of the course, whom to the best of my knowledge is not remotely connected to any political party, made the complaint to me and I am satisfied that there is a strong prima facie case against Sikhala.

“We have evidence to prove it.”

Despite Sikhala’s claim of a vendetta on Magade’s part, it turns out the politician passed Law of Evidence led by the Dean of Law. The dean said Sikhala would be subject to a disciplinary hearing should he return. Chairperson of Public Law Dr Lovemore Madhuku said Sikhala’s claims that he asked a fellow student to research for him were “nonsense”.

“The purpose of a university is to train an individual to reach a higher level of development and it is mandatory that this be based on the individual effort of the student in all respects,” Dr Madhuku said.

“Research is a key component of university education and it must be done by the individual and it is one of the most serious academic offences for a student to ask another to do research on his or her behalf.” The Herald

[newsletter]