Zimbabwean President awards wife PhD degree for her philanthropic work
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has awarded his wife a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree. According to Truth Panther, a Zimbabwean media house, Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa, the First Lady was conferred a PhD (Honoris Causa) in Development Studies.
She got the degree from the Zimbabwe Open University in recognition of her accomplishments in raising the standards of the marginalised and also her great philanthropic works.
According to the citation by the university, the First Lady was honored as founder and patron of the Angel of Hope Foundation for vigorously spearheading philanthropic work, spreading its outreach to the most marginalised communities, and advocating for their inclusion and integration into the mainstream of society.
“The First Lady launched the National Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination, an anti-cancer program expected to benefit over 800,000 girls aged between 10 and 14. She has also been providing accessible and free cervical, breast and prostrate cancer screening through her mobile clinic screening program.”
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President Mnangagwa, 80, has been married twice and has nine children and more than a dozen grandchildren. Although his first wife Jayne Matarise, passed on it is reported that the Head of State began having an affair with Auxillia even while married to Jayne.
In 2015, the First Lady was elected to Parliament in 2015 for a constituency in the House of Assembly in Parliament, the seat her husband vacated when he became vice-president and never sought re-election in 2018.
In 2021, the President conferred on the First Lady the Order of the Star of Zimbabwe Gold Award as part of the national Heroes and Defence Forces Day celebrations.
Having ascended to power in 2017, President Mnangagwa is likely be the Head of State for sometime considering the country’s constitution allows him to serve for two-five year terms.
A longtime ally of the late President Robert Mugabe, Mnangagwa held a series of cabinet portfolios and was Mugabe’s vice president till November 2017.
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