28 October 2008
editorial
An investigation by this newspaper has revealed how criminals are forging academic transcripts issued by the country's largest and oldest university, Makerere.
While these forgeries have been reported before, our investigation, detailed in our lead story yesterday, shows that the forgers have become so sophisticated that they now produce fool-proof fakes.
More worrying, our investigations revealed loopholes in the verification process set up by the university, which allows fake transcripts to be authenticated as genuine. Many people will feel concerned about these lapses, and with good measure. Employers face the increased cost of having to vet all job applicants, as well as employees who might have been recruited earlier. The failure of the verification system to catch fake transcripts means that employers can never be sure, even after the verification, that the candidates they are recruiting have the required skills and academic qualifications.
This uncertainty will make Makerere University graduates less appealing to employers in the job market, putting students with genuinely impressive academic results at a disadvantage as employers turn to graduates from other universities whose documents may not be as vulnerable to forgeries as those of Makerere. The issuance of academic transcripts at Makerere has been problematic since the university's enrolment increased with the start of the private students' scheme. While it is now faster to get one's transcript, it is still hard to tell fake from genuine, as our investigation revealed.
The Academic Registrar at Makerere has promised an inquiry to find the loopholes that this gang might be using and find ways to close them off. The university management should take quick and firm steps to address this matter. A good start is to find any university officials who might be involved in the racket and ensure that they are punished and removed from the verification process.
A comprehensive review of the process must be undertaken, right from the processing of results within the faculties, right to the printing of the final transcripts. An academic institution such as Makerere is only as good as the quality of education it provides and the reputation and credibility it enjoys among employers and its students.
This racket has put a degree from Makerere within the reach of any unscrupulous job or visa seeker with the money to spend, even when they might not be able to spell their names. Makerere must restore confidence among its students and the institutions they head for advanced degrees or jobs by sorting out this crisis quickly.
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