President Mutharika’s long-time and trusted aide, Ben Phiri, has finally attained a doctorate degree which he has been working on for the past years with a US-based Cypress International Institute (CII).
After a hectic academic endeavour, Phiri was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership Management at a colourful commencement ceremony held on Saturday at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC).
His thesis was titled; “Law Enforcement and Servant Leadership; Exploring Its Functionality. A Case Study of Organizational Leadership”
Other notable graduands during the same ceremony were former cabinet minister Halima Daud, Rev. Fletcher Zioya, Bishop Patricia Pindeni, MEC Commissioner Rev. Emmanuel Chimkwita Phiri, musician Wambali Mkandawire and nationalist Rose Chibambo.
Conferred with an honorary PhD at the same ceremony were long-time politician, Gwanda Chakuamba who has impacted lives through his political leadership as cabinet minister and parliamentarian for much of his adult life, and musician Ethel Kamwendo-Banda who received an honorary Masters in Musicology.
Gracing the function was Ndirande Malabada legislator, Aaron Sangala as Guest of Honour and former Official Hostess Cecilia Kadzamira. Both are members of the university council of CII here in Malawi.
The achievement comes only months after Phiri asked to take leave of State House to allow his opponents probe into his wealth as a way of clearing himself from the accusations.
His achievement has created positive hype among the country’s youth who have openly congratulated him on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.
Ironically, some of his accusers and critics have similarly sent public messages on the social media platform to express their congratulations.
The university – which is based in Texas, USA -also awarded various Diplomas, Bachelors, Masters, PhD and Professorships in Accounting, Theology, Business Administration, Political Science, Pure Sciences, Philosophy and Humanities among other disciplines.mana
