Mercenaries killing the quality of graduates

You will barely walk for more than 100 metres in Makerere University without finding a poster advertising mercenary services.
Mercenaries, for purposes of this article, are students or people who make money out of sitting exams, doing research or coursework undercover for their colleagues.
The act is illegal, perhaps the reason most posters advertising the services do not reveal location of the ‘service providers’.
“For assistance with project proposals, dissertations, course works, and other academic assignments, call or WhatsApp 0777---,” most posters pinned around the university read.
I called one of the numbers on a poster pinned at the College of Engineering of Makerere University noticeboard and a man who identified himself only as Gilbert asked me what kind of project I wanted help with, even before I could identify myself. Gilbert then asked me to send a message to his WhatsApp number so that he sends me a list of project titles.
A list of 15 topics, mainly engineering-related, were sent to me in a short period for me to make a pick and present it to my lecturer for approval.
Since I was not doing this for academic purposes, I got back to him four hours later and told him my topic had been approved.

And then we had to agree on the charges. Gilbert said he charges Shs450,000 for research without a report and an extra charge of Shs300, 000 for both.

Means of survival
Gilbert is an electrical engineer, who after failing to get a job two years ago, decided to take on the mantle of ‘helping’ students with coursework and final year research projects, among others at a fee.
On average, he says, he works on three projects a semester. On how he gets clients, he says: “I place placards on trees, noticeboards and any other place that students frequent in the university.”
When he has no research projects at his desk, Gilbert does coursework assignments, which he charges between Shs20,000 and Shs30,000, depending on the amount of time required to execute the assignment.
Unlike Gilbert, Morris (not real name), a Civil Engineering student at Makerere University, says he, too, is currently working on final projects for two of his classmates.
Although Morris asked them to buy all the equipment required to execute the project, he expects Shs400,000 from each of them.
And the students do not have to worry about interfacing with their supervisors because Morris says he meets them weekly on the work’s progress.
“Our supervisors are very strict, and normally want to analyse progress on a weekly basis. For my clients to be on the safe side, they have to come to me for an explanation any day of their choice,” he says.

Why they come in handy
Second semester at majority of the universities is a time when final year students submit their projects, but that does not cut out normal semester activities such as lectures, tests, course works, and exams.
Moses and Martha (not real names) are final year students of Mechanical Engineering, working together on a project as required by their department, but could not withstand the pressure. “My teammate has a heavy workload as a result of retakes. I did not want to have the burden of doing the project alone, since she would be so busy, so I decided to outsource help,” Moses says.
According to the regulations at Makerere University, a student only has three chances to retake a paper, meaning if they fail at the third attempt they are expelled from the university. Perhaps this partly explains why some students hire mercenaries to do for them coursework while others are desperate to cheat.
This could be the same case for Joy (not real name), a final year Bachelors of Social Sciences student at Kyambogo University who after failing the research project last year, says she cannot let the same happen again.
“I did not graduate this year, because I failed to complete the research project. This time round, I paid someone to do it for me,” she says.

Punitive action
Wilson Akiiki Kaija, a lecturer of Journalism and Communication at Makerere University, says research supervision is a process, whereby a supervisor provides help, support, guidance and mentorship to a student, right from conception of the idea until the project is submitted. “I have caught some students in this act; either by hiring ‘mercenaries’ or plagiarism. And in such cases, I tear the work and ask the student to start afresh.”
In a bid to ensure students present their original work, Adolf Mbaine, a lecturer at the same department, says students make class presentations or do tests.
“You can then match the class tests with the work that students carry home. If one passes courses carried home and fails class tests, then definitely that student’s work has to be investigated,” Mbaine asserts.
Once you are found presenting work that is not originally yours at Uganda Christian University, Mukono, the penalties include being handed a dead year as Frank Isabirye, a lecturer of Journalism at Uganda Christian University, Mukono, says.
“I know my students, I know how most of them think, and can easily get them when I suspect that the work they have submitted may not be their own input.”

Do the good grades match with the output at work?

Once one leaves the university, as society expects, they begin to look for a job. Definitely, when one has cheated their way through undergraduate studies, they will possess a transcript with good grades, something that excites employers.
As a senior human resource officer at Educate! Uganda, Janat Namukose does not dispute this.
“When an employer looks at CV and someone has got good grades, it catches the recruiter’s eye, especially for graduate trainees, since they do not have much experience,” she says.
Namukose, however, adds that it goes beyond just grades. “We are in a world where soft skills are important. We are looking at how good a person is, how confident and confidential, how they interact with other people in the work place, and when you realise that one does not match up, we put them under performance improvement plans.”

What the students say

“My teammate has a heavy workload as a result of retakes carried forward from the previous academic years. I did not want to have the burden of doing the project alone, since she would be so busy, so I decided to outsource help.”
moses, makerere university

“I did not graduate this year, because I failed to complete the research project. This time round, I paid someone in Wandegeya to do it for me. I check on him at least twice a week, to ensure we are on the right track. I am positive I will pass and graduate this time.”
joy, kyambogo university

Policies
As is the case for UCU, Mukono Makerere University, too runs the academic integrity policy, which is founded upon the values of honesty, trust, customer responsiveness and responsibility.
The policy singles out cheating, plagiarism, falsification, and misuse of academic resources as some of the academic sins.
“Plagiarism may occur on any paper, report, or other work submitted to fulfil course requirements,” it states in part.
The policy, however, puts the mandate of verification into the hands of the colleges.

Nip vice in the bud

“I cannot stand such behaviour, because that is how corruption is nurtured. If you can do something like that on a personal basis, it means you are capable of stealing public funds.”
Frank Isabirye, lecturer, Uganda Christian University, Mukono

“I can only move to step two during supervision after I am convinced that the student has done step one satisfactorily. Supervisors ought to involve themselves in this work at every stage.”
Wilson Akiiki Kaija, lecturer
Makerere University

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