Exiled former Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Professor Jonathan Moyo has made contact with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga in an endeavour to apologise for asserting that Chiwenga bought his PhD degree.
The development was revealed by Moyo’s lawyer, Chris Mhike of Atherstone and Cook who said that the legal representatives of the respective parties were “still mutually and amicably seized with the matter, with a view to concluding it cordially.”
Chiwenga instituted a $5 million lawsuit against the political science professor after he had alleged in 2017 that Chiwenga did not write the thesis for his doctorate from the University of KwaZulu Natal.
Moyo’s lawyer told the News Day that the negotiations were supposed to be a private and confidential matter. Mhike added:
It must be noted that the High Court case remains pending, and is therefore sub judice. We are therefore unable to meaningfully comment on the issue. The furthest we can go at this stage, in terms of commentary, is to confirm that the legal representatives of the respective parties are still mutually and amicably seized with the matter, with a view to concluding it cordially.
There was a war of words between Moyo and Chiwenga in 2017, the year when former President Mugabe was toppled, over a number of issues including army intentions to meddle in ZANU PF affairs as “stockholders of the Constitution” with Moyo suggesting that the army was overstepping.
More: News Day