IRENE ONYANGO.
A youth advocacy group has written to the Uganda’s Minister of Education Janet Museveni seeking to compel Teams University to revoke a degree issued to Nairobi senator Johnson Arthur Sakaja.
Youth Advocacy Africa says in a letter to Janet dated June 14, who is also President Yoweri Museveni’s wife, that the certificate held by Sakaja was unlawfully issued.
Through Lawyer Waithaka Ngaruiya, the lobby group further warned Team University to provide a detailed explanation on the contradictions surrounding Sakaja’s papers.
The lobby group says that the degree issued to the UDA Nairobi gubernatorial candidate reads as “Bachelor of Science in management (External) yet his name is not in the graduation booklet dated October 21, 2016 that reads Bachelor of Science in management.
“Our client is certain that your office will treat this matter with the importance and the urgency that it requires to safeguard the image of Uganda as a country that has traditionally offered education to many students in EAC region and that the mischief of a few who are yearn on sabotaging regional integration shall not be allowed to supersede the interest of the majority in the region,” the letter by Ngaruiya read.
He warned that Ugandan universities are likely to face a reputational crisis if the matter is not addressed.
The lawyer said graduates from Ugandan universities shall be treated with suspicion as to indicate that their degrees have been obtained fraudulently.
The Lobby group has also written to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission seeking investigations into the validity of the degree certificate and academic transcripts presented by Sakaja from the University.
The group also wants a probe on the possibility of the collusion between Council of University Education (CUE) and Sakaja to avoid scrutiny of the fake degree by CUE contrary to section 5 of the University act.
They have also written to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation similarly asking for a probe into the matter.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Disputes and Resolution Committee is expected to give a ruling on the eligibility of Sakaja to contest the Nairobi gubernatorial post.
