Following the recent controversy surrounding TikTok personality, “Dr Matthew Lani”, another social media figure has come out boasting about his “Honorary Doctorate degree,” which he says has been conferred to him by one of South Africa’s biggest distance learning institutions – The University of South Africa (UNISA).
In a viral post circulating on twitter, Malawi native Pemphero W Mphande shared a picture of himself fully clothed in his graduation attire expressing his excitement.
“Today at UNISA in RSA I was awarded honoris causa a Doctorate degree in community development in recognition of the Humanitarian work that have seen us raise over 200 million for the sick and others in need.
“This Honorary PhD belongs to all of us that do charity work together,” he added.
Today at UNISA in RSA I was awarded honoris causa a Doctorate degree in community development in recognition of the Humanitarian work that have seen us raise over 200 million for the sick and others in need. This Honorary PhD belongs to all of us that do charity work together 🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/iQsoaY0fJO
— Pemphero W Mphande (@PempheroMphande) November 4, 2023
While many of his followers were eager to share in his joy and congratulate him, UNISA was swift in reacting to the post, and in the process, distanced itself from ever awarding the degree to Pemphero as well as two other Malawians.
In a statement of their own the institution wrote:
“The University of South Africa (Unisa) has become aware through social media posts and media queries that Malawian socialite Pemphero Mphande, Malawian musician Patience Namadingo as well as a certain Mansoor Sharif Karim claim to have received honorary doctorates from the university in 2020,2022 and 2023 respectively.”
“Unisa wishes to state categorically that that it has not conferred any such degrees on the trio and any such assertion to this effect is simply Not True.”
The statement further adds that the process of awarding honorary doctorates is a strict one and has to go through all structures of governance before a final decision is made by the university council. The institution also added that it distanced itself from the individuals and condemns the misuse of the Unisa name for fraudulent conduct.
Unisa denies conferring honorary doctorates on Malawian socialite Phemphero Mphande, Malawian musician Patience Namadingo and Mansoor Sharif Karim pic.twitter.com/VRdmRCk83o
— Unisa (@unisa) November 7, 2023
Following their statement Pemphero now believes that he is a victim of a scam, and says that he is eager to work alongside Unisa to get to the bottom of this.
Also see: WATCH: Fake Dr Matthew arrested after being caught at hospital
