Reprieve for Joho as Uganda judge suspends degree probe

Mombasa governor Hassan Joho got a reprieve on Thursday when a judge in Kampala temporarily stopped the Uganda police from investigating the process resulting in his being awarded a Bachelor’s degree by Kampala University.

The court also stopped the police from arresting or detaining any employee of the university under the guise of investigating the process leading to the award of the degree. The interim order issued by Mr Justice Elizabeth Musoke on February 4 will remain in effect until the main suit is heard and determined.

“The interim order prohibits and restrains the Uganda Police officers from entering the applicant university and from arresting, harassing and detaining the applicant’s staff and students under the guise of investigating the process resulting in the award of Bachelor of Business Administration (Human Resource Management option) degree to Hassan Ali Joho,” the judge said.

She also issued an injunction restraining the police from investigating the process resulting in the award of the degree to Mr Joho.

Mr Joho is alleged to have fraudulently obtained the academic transcript of Kampala University, yet he was not actually attending lectures at the institution.

Under Kenyan law, a person vying for the post of governor must have a university degree.

CONTESTING OUTCOME

When Mr Joho won the governorship of Mombasa in March last year, the loser, Mr Suleiman Shahbal, contested the outcome. One of the grounds of his petition was that Mr Joho did not have a university degree. Mr Shabhal also alleged other electoral irregularities. The case is still pending in the Court of Appeal in Kenya.

Following the controversy over Mr Joho’s academic background, the Uganda Police and the National Council for Higher Education launched parallel investigations to establish the truth.

But the council has since come out to clear the university by saying it was satisfied that the governor’s transcripts were genuine and rightfully obtained.

In October last year, the police stormed the university’s main campus in Gbaga, a Kampala suburb, and arrested the academic registrar Hamza Ssegawa for reportedly failing to provide authorities with necessary information vital for the investigations.

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