FIRST Lady Grace Mugabe had to acquire a doctorate in order to be a better adviser to President Robert Mugabe, according to outgoing Zanu PF women’s league boss Oppah Muchinguri.
She said a lot of journalists from the West were suggesting that Grace had been awarded her doctorate irregularly since her husband was the chancellor of the university.
Muchinguri however, defended Grace saying the fact she got the degree means she really wanted to better herself academically to be able to advise Mugabe.
“How can you advise and stay with an educated person (President Mugabe) who has so many degrees when you don’t have a doctorate?
“So I told these detractors that for (Amai) Mugabe to be a helper and a good adviser to the President she had to better herself education-wise,” Muchinguri said.
Muchinguri said President Mugabe was a principled man who had so many degrees yet there was never a time he awarded himself a doctorate degree.
“President Mugabe is number one in Africa with so many degrees as far as education is concerned but he never awarded himself a PhD,” she said.
She said everyone in the women’s league should turn to her if they had grievances describing the First Lady as a “direct line” to President Mugabe.
“If you have grievances or any other pertinent issues in the party, you now don’t come to me or to your MP, chairperson. Even if you are a queen, a wife of a chief, you go straight to Amai because she is the direct line,” Muchinguri said.