Blow for Hassan Joho as Uganda team says degree be rejected

A team set up to investigate how Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho was awarded a degree by a Ugandan university has recommended that the certificate be withdrawn.

The recommendation will have far-reaching political implications because the Constitution requires a governor to be a degree holder.

If the Ugandan National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) adopts the recommendation, then Mr Joho would lose his seat and his Deputy Governor, Ms Hazel Katana, will take over for the rest of the term.

The Constitution says that if a governor loses his seat, then the deputy governor will take over.

A petitioner, Mr Silas Otuke, had filed a case in court challenging Mr Joho’s academic credentials and the validity of the governor’s Bachelor of Business Administration degree, which was issued by Kampala University.

Calls put to Mr Joho for a comment on the new twist were not going through. His head of communication, Ms Esther Ingolo, said she did not want to comment on the issue because it was still in court.

“What reasons have they given to revoke the degree?” she asked.

In Kampala, the committee recommended that an investigation be carried out on all students who graduated from the same university on the same day as Mr Joho. It also recommended that NCHE should not recognise the degree certificate issued to him on February 28, 2013.

“NCHE should carry out an investigation into the processes from admission to graduation of all the students who graduated on February 28, 2013, with the Bachelor of Business Administration degree of Kampala University,” the team’s report said.

AVAILABLE EVIDENCE

Mr Joho’s political rivals had accused him of faking his academic credentials ahead of last year’s General Election. The governor had apparently received a certificate that showed that he had earned a Second Class, Upper Division degree.

When the High Court in Nairobi cleared him to contest, his rivals took the case to a Mombasa court, insisting that his degree was not genuine.

In a February report to government and NCHE, the director of the Uganda Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, Ms Grace Akullo, said NCHE should analyse the available evidence and form an opinion as to whether Mr Joho went through the due process to attain the degree. She faulted both the NCHE and the university for failing to provide all the required information.

However, Mr Joho filed a case in Kampala challenging NCHE’s authority to withdraw his degree.

Mr Justice Stephen Kavuma of the Constitutional Court issued an interim order on April 22 stopping any proceedings on the matter, pending determination of the case.

“Any processes and/or investigations by the police or any other government agency or department should be halted until the hearing and determination of main application,” the interim order said.

Asked to comment on the new committee report advising the recall of Mr Joho’s degree, the politician’s lawyer, Mr Denis Mosota, said the matter was still in court and discussing it would be unprofessional.

“The Constitutional Court has stopped all the investigations on all issues surrounding Joho’s degree. So the best thing is to wait until the court pronounces itself on the matter,” he Mosota said.

He, however, questioned the role of the police in investigating academic papers, adding that even NCHE’s mandate was restricted to policy and standards.

“CID has no mandate to involve (itself) in academic matters of learning institutions. The mandate to investigate institutions of learning is vested on the NCHE. Even the NCHE’s jurisdiction is limited to the broad question of policy and standard,” he said.

GOING TO CHALLENGE

Kampala University’s proprietor, who doubles as vice-chancellor, Prof Badu Katerina, said that he was going to challenge the recommendations of the Quality Assurance Committee.

“That is not yet final; it is a mere recommendation by the committee. It has to go to NCHE for debate and that recommendation is not law.”

Reported by RICHARD WANAMBWA and A. SSENKABIRWA. [email protected]