It is often alleged that a number of people in public service have attributed to themselves academic qualifications they never earned.

A couple of times a newspaper has gone as far as identifying one or two culprits, who express the expected denials and threats to sue.

Otherwise, the claims have been thrown into oblivion and the suspects continued to enjoy whatever status they had without too much bother.

Not any more. It now looks as though the allegations have assumed a form in which they can no longer be papered over and easily forgotten.

For, someone, for some reason, has decided to take the bull by the horns and published a little pamphlet containing the names, life history and pictures of some eight senior politicians, accusing them of lying about their degrees and diplomas.

Kainerugaba Msemakweli, the intrepid author, says this is just the first part, indicating that at least another 11 names will be coming out soon.

This is not your regular whodunnit publication hiding behind a mysterious nom de plume.

No, the author has printed his own life history, complete with his photograph, on the back page of the 39-page effort, while the frontispiece carries his mobile telephone number and email address, just in case...

Msemakweli, who says he is a lawyer, has done what the most brazen proponents of transparency would shy away from, fearing the inevitable backlash, including libel suits, some of which have already been filed, and personal vengeance.

In a culture that fawns on those in power, however undeserving, what the young man — he says he was born at the end of the 1970s — is beyond the pale of most commentators, and questions regarding his motives cannot but feed conjecture.

As Tanzania’s ambulance-chasers flock to the court registry to file defamation cases, asking for huge amounts of money as compensation for their clients’ bruised egos, the public will wait with bated breath to hear the determination over the veracity of Msemakweli’s very open allegations.

In the fullness of time, the truth shall out and justice will be dispensed.

It comes to mind at this juncture, though, that there may be just too much ado about nothing.

The phenomenon of politicians falling over themselves to obtain university degrees — genuine or fake — is a fast growing, if recent trait, that has arisen out of seriously misplaced values.

There is absolutely nothing inherent in a university degree, however authentic, that qualifies one to be a good leader.

A degree alone is not a sufficient qualification; it’s not even necessary.

Leadership is less about academic plaudits than about the sound understanding of a polity’s needs as well as the ability to articulate the needs and the sagacity to organise your people’s efforts to attain them.

World history does not in any way suggest that the greatest political leaders owed their prowess to academia.

In fact, the man acknowledged by his countrymen and women as the greatest Englishman that ever lived, Winston Churchill, had a sorry school career, excelling only in the English language, much like a Mnyamwezi excelling in Kinyamwezi.

Still, it will be very hard to persuade our disoriented politicians away from the lure of a cute university label.

Politics being the only growth industry in Tanzania — meaning that the factory floor is crowded — a PhD suffix after your name makes the voters notice you; and the appointing authorities cannot ignore you either.

This is why I hazard the suggestion that the Tanzanian political scene boasts the highest number of PhDs and professors per capita in the world, and what a lot of good has it done us in terms of economic development!

Just consider this: The PhD whose academic title ensures he is made minister of something studied biology in high school and zoology for his first degree, then specialised in entomology (the study of insects) for his masters. What did he do for his doctoral thesis? Perhaps the reproductive habits of the female praying mantis.

It’s what has been termed knowing more and more about less and less, I suppose, and this is strictly about a genuine doctorate degree.

Jenerali Ulimwengu is a political commentator and civil society activist based in Dar es Salaam. [email protected]