The Special Select Committee tasked by Sierra Leone’s Parliament to probe academic credentials of public sector workers has unearthed one more unaccredited degree-awarding institution.
The head of the committee, Dr Kandeh Yumkella (KKY), made the disclosure in parliament during plenary last week. He didn’t mention the name of the institution at the time, but he later informed ManoReporters that it was Bishop Momoh Memorial College of Management and Professional Studies, which is located in the southern city of Bo.
Yumkella is heading a seven-man committee tasked with auditing the academic qualifications of all employees in public institutions, including Members of Parliament. The investigation was prompted by public outcry sparked by the discovery of an accredited institution in Freetown, called Dominion, which awarded degrees to people in exchange for money.
Since then whistle-blowers have identified several people thought to be holding questionable academic qualifications. The parliamentary committee is tasked with verifying all academic credentials of public officials and report to the House with recommendations for appropriate action.
A document Yumkella shared with ManoReporters via whatsapp exchange indicates that the Bishop Momoh Memorial College of Management and Professional Studies awarded a honorary Philosophy of Doctorate (PhD) degree to a person named Robinson Muzeya.
The lawmaker, who is the head of the opposition National Grand Coalition (NGC) in Parliament, said they discovered that the college had applied for accreditation as a ‘Category C’ institution, which would allowed them to award only certificate and diploma. The application, he added, was pending because they were not accredited by the National Council for Technical and Vocational Awards (NCTVA), a prerequisite for an accreditation by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).
“As a Category C institution, they can only offer certificate and diploma programmes, coordinated by NCTVA, in terms of curricular, examination and certification. They are in no way supposed to offer undergraduate and/or postgraduate programmes; not to talk of granting “Honorary Doctorate” degrees. Thus, the doctorate degree given is null and void,” Yumkella said.
The NGC leader added that they intended to go after the authorities of the institution by first alerting the Police for action and then by inviting them to face the committee.
According to Yumkella, the committee had received numerous information from whistle-blowers about people registering at the Bishop Momoh Memorial College of Management and Professional Studies and awarded certificates attesting that they had completed courses even without taking any lecture. Yumkella went on to say that he even heard report of people boasting that noting would come out of any investigation on the issue.
“They said nothing will come out of the investigation, that it’s just another committee,” he said.
The TEC is in charge of accrediting higher institutions of learning. Some people have raised questions about the role of the Commission in all this scandal that has tainted the education sector. Yumkella wondered why the TEC failed to order institutions without accreditation to shut down.
He however assured the public that their intent as a committee is to stop the proliferation of institutions that award fake degrees, which he said is in line with the responsibility of Parliament – to fix systemic problems facing the country. The lawmaker therefore called on public officials who already know they are in possession of fake degrees to denounce them.
The parliamentary committee has until before the end of the life span of the current parliament, starting from May 19th, to submit its report.
The Committee had issued deadlines for all public officials to submit their certificates to it. While the administrative staff of Parliament had up to 15th June, lawmakers had until 20th June to comply.
Yumkella said for them to complete their task on time, they would need a secretariat. He also said they would need to co-opt academic professionals into the committee for effective execution of their mandate.
According to KKY, two out of three staff of the Parliament, which the committee identified to serve as clerks, declined.
Opposition All People’s Congress (APC) lawmaker, Hassan Sesay of Constituency 050 in Tonkolili District, suggested for the suspension of the staff for refusing to serve the committee.
