Fortunate Ahimbisibwe
9 January 2008
Kampala — SEVERAL top organisations have approached Makerere University to verify the authenticity of academic documents of their employees following reports that the university transcripts are easily forged.
The academic registrar, Amos Olal Odur, yesterday named the Uganda Revenue Authority and the Inspectorate of Government among the organisations which had verified the academic papers of their staff.
"There is an increase in the number of organisations requesting us to verify the academic papers of their employees. Our transcripts office has been verifying transcripts and certificates as part of our campaign against forging Makerere's academic papers," he said.
Odur said there was increased pressure on organisations to establish the validity of academic papers in the wake of reports of massive forgery.
An investigation by a committee of deans last year reported that some officials in the Academic Registrar's office were involved in the forgery in exchange for money. Two officials have since been suspended from the university.
The committee, chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, Dr. Venansius Baryamureeba, noted: "All indications revealed that cases of forgeries and extortion of money from graduates exist and some officers in the Academic Registrar's Department are involved."
The committee found that transcripts are forged in Wandegeya, on William and Nasser roads in the city centre, while others are forged at the university.
Other companies that have verified the qualification of their employees include National Social Security Fund, British High Commission, Umeme, World Vision, British American Tobbaco and Standard Chartered Bank. The UPDF also sent a list of officers, whose papers are to be crosschecked.
PricewaterHouseCoopers and Ernst and Young, dfcu Bank and Barclays Bank have also done the exercise. Top recruitment agencies have also regularly contacted the university for verification of academic credentials.
The American Embassy, the Ministry of Public Service and some district service commissions have also asked the uiniversity to verify their employees' papers.
Odur said the university writes back to the organisations providing details of the grades and marks obtained.
"In some cases, we have found that the papers submitted by the employees are not similar to the records at Makerere. In such cases, we leave it up to the employer to take a decision. But we are discussing ways of prosecuting those who are found with forged papers," he said.
Many universities in Europe, US and South Africa also verify Makerere papers when its former students apply for further studies.
Odur said the university would strengthen the transcripts office to cater for the increased demand of verification.
Uganda Revenue Authority spokesperson Patrick Mukiibi said: "We do it as a way of confirming that the papers submitted by employees are genuine. We prefer not to take chances. This practice is acceptable and nobody has complained about it."
Deputy IGG, Raphael Baku, said: "The verification is normally done when there are issues raised about the academic papers."
Lilliane Mugisha, the manager of Assurance Services, said: "We verify the results annually as part of our recruitment procedures."
An official from Stanbic Bank said they had verified some cases and plan to verify for more this year.
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