However, it forgot to tell its readers that the CV was uploaded on 12 February 2009.
What the Times on
Sunday (3 May 2015) also failed to report was that Prime Minister Dlamini
calls himself a ‘doctor’ when he has no such qualification. As recently as 26
April 2015 in
a letter to the Lesotho Prime Minister he signed himself as ‘Dr’.
Rather like the report in the Times Sunday, this is not recent news. Here’s an edited version of
a post on the subject that first
appeared on Swazi Media Commentary on 10 February 2009.
…
I see that the Swazi
Observer, the newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, Swaziland’s
absolute monarch, has taken to calling Swaziland’s illegally-appointed
Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini, ‘Doctor Dlamini’.
In the real world a ‘doctor’ is someone with a recognised
medical certification or a person who has attained the qualification of
doctorate (for example a PhD). Barnabas Dlamini falls into neither of these
categories.
Upon closer examination it turns out that Barnabas was given
an honorary doctorate from the state-run, University
of Swaziland (Chancellor: King Mswati III). And this will make you laugh
when you remember how during his first term as PM he totally
ignored legitimate court rulings; he was ‘awarded’ the title ‘doctor of laws’.
Honorary doctorates (and lesser degrees) are often awarded
by universities to people who have made extraordinary contributions to
society. They are meant as recognition
of achievement, but they are meant to be cosmetic. The holder of an ‘honorary’
doctorate is not supposed to pass themselves off as the real thing. Most people
who receive such honours know this: Nelson Mandela had goodness knows how many
honorary degrees but he didn’t dream of passing himself off as ‘Doctor Mandela.’
Poor Barnabas, not only is he a bogus prime minister (he was
never elected), he’s also a bogus doctor.
There is a twist in the tail. Dlamini’s ‘doctorate’ was
awarded by the University of Swaziland, but no student has ever graduated from
the university with a doctorate degree.
The level of educational achievement at the university is so
low that there are doubts that it should be called a ‘university’ at all.
Consider these statistics: in 2006, 49.7 percent of the 1,370 students who
graduated received certificates and diplomas, while 49.3 percent got bachelor
degrees. Hardly anyone studies for graduate qualifications: that year, 14
students received masters degrees while only 51 students were studying for
masters degrees in the whole university.
Poor ‘Doctor’ Dlamini, his scroll really isn’t worth the
paper it’s printed on.
See also
SWAZI KING APPOINTS ILLEGAL PM
HISTORY CONDEMNS SWAZILAND PM
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