Swaziland’s Prime Minister Barnabas
Dlamini calls himself a ‘doctor’ although he has no such qualification.
A ‘doctor’ is someone who has a certified
medical qualification or a Ph.D (doctor of philosophy) or similar (D.Litt, for
example) that has been earned by publishing a substantial record of research.
Barnabas Dlamini – sometimes known as Sibusiso Dlamini
– has none of these.
Dlamini drew attention to his
‘doctor’ title in his just-published
autobiography. He signs himself as
‘Dr’ in letters and is called ‘Doctor’ on the Swaziland Government’s official
website.
However the truth is he has no such
qualification.
He was awarded an honorary ‘doctor of
laws’ by the state-run University of Swaziland (UNISWA) in 2008. The University
has King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute
monarch, as its Chancellor. Dlamini was not elected Prime Minister; he was personally
appointed by the King.
Honorary
doctorates are not ‘real’ doctorates; in other words, being awarded an honorary doctorate is not the same as
earning an actual doctorate. By
convention, recipients of honorary
doctorates do not use the title
‘Dr.’ The
title should not be used to further a career or be put on a resume. Honorary
awards are designed to draw attention to the university bestowing the honour,
since it ties them to the recipient.
Many receivers could paper a room with
their doctorate scrolls: former US President Barack Obama has at least 13; Bill
Clinton, at least 16. In 1996, Nelson Mandela received eight
honorary degrees in a single day
in London, UK.
There is a twist in the tail. Dlamini’s ‘doctorate’
was awarded by UNISWA, but no student has ever graduated from the university
with a doctorate degree.
The level of educational achievement at the university
was so low that there were doubts that it should be called a ‘university’ at
all. In 2006, just before it awarded Dlamini the doctorate, 49.7 percent of UNISWA’s
1,370 students who graduated received certificates and diplomas, while 49.2
percent got bachelor degrees. Hardly anyone studied for graduate
qualifications: that year, 14 students received masters degrees while only 51
students were studying for master degrees in the whole university. A university
is supposed to be an institution of higher learning; UNISWA’s statistics made
it look more like a tertiary college. This situation has improved slightly
since Dlamini was awarded his honorary doctorate.
The awarding of honorary doctorates and degrees is
controversial. In 1996, Long Island University’s Southampton College awarded an
honorary Doctor of Amphibious Letters to Kermit the Frog
for his work in education and in raising environmental awareness. Even though
there were those who did not agree with the idea of bestowing the honour on a
puppet, Kermit
accepted the award and did indeed give an acceptance speech.
Richard
Rooney
See also
NOW
IT’S DOCTOR KING MSWATI
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