Kampala — A committee of the Makerere University senate has recommended the cancellation of over 200 degrees of former students, citing fraud in the admission process.

The committee, chaired by Dr. Barnabas Nawangwe, the dean of the faculty of Technology, presented its findings to the Senate Examinations and Irregularities Committee on Wednesday.

The probe was ordered in January after the university received anonymous letters complaining that some students with lower marks were admitted while those with higher grades were left out.

The 200-page preliminary report says an official in the academic Registrar's department altered students' marks.

"There were incidences of gross misconduct in the admission process of the mature entry scheme," a source, who attended the meeting, said. "Even after admission, some students had their marks altered to give them better grades. In some cases, some students were found without any admission documents yet they were admitted."

The report blames the Academic Registrar's department for lack of internal control measures to curb such fraud.

The probe committee recommended that the affected former students be informed of this decision after a special senate meeting has discussed the findings.

It also recommended that the official involved in the scam be sacked and prosecuted.

The majority of the cancelled degrees are reportedly from the faculty of Law, Pharmacy, Medicine and from the Makerere University Business School, mainly Bachelor of Business administration.

Some of the students have already graduated and were issued transcripts, while others are waiting to graduate.

"The matter is sensitive and urgent. The senate will sit at the earliest opportunity to make a final decision. But the findings indicate that the irregularities were limited to the mature entry scheme and not the merit scheme," said the deputy vice-chancellor for academic affairs, Dr. Lillian Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza.

"The members of staff implicated will be subjected to the university's disciplinary measures."

The senate, the highest academic decision-making organ of the university, will sit next week to consider the recommendations.

Other members on the probe committee were Prof. John Kabasa, Prof. Frederick Jjuko and Prof. Ruth Mukama, the former head of the Gender and Main Streaming Division.