TCU: Officials want us to verify their degrees
By Dominic Nkolimwa
15th February 2010
Goverment officials alleged to possess fake degrees, have started contacting the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) to have their certificates verified.
The move comes at a time when a number of ministers and politicians are alleged to possess fake academic certificates.
The debate highlighting high profile officials, including Members of Parliament, allegedly holding fake degrees, took a new turn when the TCU said those questioning the documents were indulging in witch-hunting.
TCU Secretary, Prof Mayunga Nkunya told this paper through a telephone interview that already his office has started receiving calls from government officials expressing their intention to present their degree certificates for verification.
Prof Nkunya, without disclosing the names of the officials who had contacted him, said the matter should be handled with care because the alleged officials are public figures.
What has been done by Kainerugaba Msemakweli is totally wrong, because he has no mandate of announcing or verifying any academic certificate. It is TCU alone that has the mandate to verify degree certificates, he said.
He said Msemakwelis allegations were against Act No7 which states the establishment, composition and functions of the Commission.
But Msemakweli defended what he has published, claiming a thorough investigation was carried out and that he was ready to defend it before a court of law.
Prof Nkunya on the other hand, insisted that only TCU and the National Accreditation Council for Technical Education (NACTE) were mandated to verify the credentials.
We have never co-operated with Msemakweli in verifying the credentials and validity of the awards of the people he has named, he said, adding that what the writer had done was against the law.
That is pure witch-hunting and is very dangerous for a country like Tanzania which is well known for observing the law and safeguarding human dignity, Prof Nkunya noted.
Few months ago, Msemakweli named some government officials claiming they were possessing fake degree certificates.
He later published a book entailing names and pictures of ministers alleged to possess such degrees.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN