Zim MP Timburwa Allegedly Accused of Faking Degree

In 2023, Shacky Timburwa, a member of Zimbabwe’s Zanu PF party, allegedly claimed he had earned a PhD after years of hard work. However, investigators uncovered this as a potential deception.

The claim is part of a larger scheme where multiple individuals allegedly pretended to receive doctorates to mislead their followers online.

Days after Timburwa’s announcement, the University of South Africa (UNISA) allegedly disowned the Malawians involved in this scandal, but Timburwa faced no consequences despite attending the same graduation ceremony.

Isaiah Brian Sovi, an internet personality and self-proclaimed pastor, allegedly approached Timburwa, who represents Chegutu West.

Sovi purportedly offered to help Timburwa obtain a PhD from UNISA. In November 2023, Timburwa traveled to South Africa, bought a graduation gown, and participated in the ceremony.

Unlike others who claimed honorary doctorates, Timburwa allegedly asserted he had completed actual studies.

He even posted on LinkedIn, celebrating his “Doctorate in International Relations” at age 31. However, that post has since been deleted, although traces of it remain online.

After the announcement, many allegedly congratulated him on social media, but those messages have also been removed. Using an online archive, evidence of this celebration was still retrievable.

Investigations revealed that Timburwa did not graduate from UNISA. He allegedly admitted that he was misled about the legitimacy of the award. Upon realizing something was wrong, he chose to promote his supposed degree on social media. He even used the title “Dr.” in his posts.

In November 2024, a year after the incident, Timburwa allegedly spoke at a lecture where someone introduced him as “Hon Dr Shacky Timburwa.” He later claimed that scammers had deceived him and that he had no intent to mislead others, stating he detested academic fraud.

However, evidence suggested otherwise. Shortly after We Dug Up presented information about his claims, someone deleted many related posts.

Despite allegedly claiming he was a student at the University of Zimbabwe, Timburwa could not provide proof of graduation, and the university did not confirm his status.

Timburwa allegedly hired a consultant to manage his Wikipedia page, which falsely claimed he graduated with a law degree. When questioned about this, he blamed others for the misinformation.

Wikipedia has flagged his page for potential abuse, noting a lack of credible references to support his claims. A senior moderator indicated that someone manipulated the system to create a misleading image of Timburwa.

Investigation by Panashe Makufa, Maynard Manyowa and Prof Changamire for Dug Up…