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How varsity students fake graduation booklets to hoodwink parents
Makerere graduands at a recent function. There are allegations some appeared on a recent graduation list yet they had not met the requirements. PHOTO BY Abubaker Lubowa
What you need to know:
- All one has to do is pay a graphics designer at Nasser Road--- Kampala’s notorious street for issuing fake documents--- and a booklet with doctored names would be ready for presentation to parents.
- The parents, who also had planned to organise a party at home to celebrate her milestone, unwittingly pushed Sarah to the cliff.
- A Makerere graduation is an invites-only affair. But it is a Hill with a maze of roads and canopies and these can hide anything, including a fake invitation card that the Nasser guy tops up as a bonus on the service.
Marks for sale by sex for marks equals fake graduation, goes the arithmetic at the Hill, an apt name for Makerere University where parents send thousands of students each year, but many fail to navigate the treacherous terrains to look at the Ivory Tower with pride.
The Hill, dotted with canopies of trees, has over the years proven another Luweero-like jungles that academically struggling students have turned into a delude for their unsuspecting parents to walk into and attend their ‘graduation’.
Over the years, media reports have exposed several fake graduations and they are not about to end – the latest this publication has landed on involves forgery of graduation booklets.
One of the fresh graduates, Sarah* confessed to Monitor during its undercover investigation, that it was intense pressure from her parents that forced her to get involved in this misconduct.
“They had already organised the graduation party because I had told them under pressure that I was graduating,” the youth, whose real name has been altered for this story, shared her experience.
Sarah* was trying to explain how it is possible to graduate without actually graduating if the push came to a shove that could send one tumbling down the steep hill into the trenches of the neighboring Katanga slum.
The fraud, as we discovered, involves doctoring the list to include the name of a student who’s on a mission to convince their parents that they have successfully gone through the walls of the country’s oldest public university.
All one has to do is pay a graphics designer at Nasser Road--- Kampala’s notorious street for issuing fake documents--- and a booklet with doctored names would be ready for presentation to parents.
But authorities at the university deny the allegations, arguing they have zero tolerance to any academic fraud.
Instead, the university advises parents to ensure verification of the authenticity of any academic award with the university in order to escape such tricks from their children.
Investigated Case
Sarah* is a former student at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS). She revealed that she got retakes in various course units, which could not allow her graduate.
It is not something she could tell her parents.
“The situation became so tough on my side towards graduation. Parents were at every minute on my neck asking about my graduation and I could not open up to them that I will not graduate because they had high expectations of me,” she says.
The parents, who also had planned to organise a party at home to celebrate her milestone, unwittingly pushed Sarah to the cliff.
While looking for a solution, she shared her concern with a friend, also a former Makerere student, who offered her the services of a graphics designer (name withheld) who deals with such issues.
“I contacted the guy and later met him at a restaurant in Kampala. I explained everything to him and he asked me to pay Shs200, 000 for my service after bargaining from the Shs250, 000 he had asked for at first,” she says.
After paying the money, Sarah* was asked to provide her particulars, including the name and the course she studied, which she did.
Within three days, her booklet was ready for pick up at the same rendezvous place as earlier.
Upon the delivery at home, it was a moment of excitement from her parents after seeing their daughter's name in the booklet. Hugs, kisses and gifts were given to her, including extra money for shopping for graduation attire.
“The graduation came and we drove to the Hill. Upon reaching, they went to their designated tent as I also sought a seat for myself among the graduands. However, I did not sit with my classmates because they already knew that I was not on the list,” she says.
A Makerere graduation is an invites-only affair. But it is a Hill with a maze of roads and canopies and these can hide anything, including a fake invitation card that the Nasser guy tops up as a bonus on the service.
Some fake graduates make the most of invitation cards from those who graduated the previous days.
“I did it all secretly and I was praying that they should not get to know about it and surely God heard my prayers and no one has ever asked for my documents,” Sarah says.
“Although my worry will come at a time when they will ask for my transcripts and I’m not ready right now to go back to redo those papers.”
When asked about the details of the graphic designer, Sarah said; “Seriously, I don’t know the guy's place of work. We were just meeting at some restaurant in Kampala. All our communications were through phone calls and messages. I just trusted him because my friend knew him.”
“You know that work is too risky. Even before working on my documents, he first asked me where I got his contact. He also told me not to tell anyone at the university about it,” she said.
This reporter was not able to speak to the said graphics designer.
In order to know the variation of cost from different service providers, our reporter approached another designer, who allegedly deals in a similar line of business. The reporter disguised as a stranded student seeking help to fix her name in the graduation booklet ahead of the recently-concluded 74th Graduation ceremony.
Through a telephone interview, he sounded very suspicious and asked: “who gave you my number?”
However, he later relaxed and opened up after knowing the contact giver was a confidant.
He agreed to reprint the booklet at Shs300, 000. He had initially asked for Shs350, 000.
He asked this reporter to get a hard copy of the original university booklet, which he said would guide him in processing the counterfeit copy I needed.
“I will need a physical book to guide me because we also do not have it yet,” he said.
When asked the location of his work station to deliver the copy of the booklet, he said: “No, we shall just meet somewhere and I pick the book, I work on it, and then I deliver it when it is ready. Just know for this kind of work, it’s just better to work and I deliver because at times it brings problems. That is why the location remains unknown. But trust me I can’t eat your money.”
By the time of this investigation, the university had not released the 74th graduation booklet, which is given out at no cost apart from Shs 200, 000 for graduation, convocation, certificate, transcript, and graduation gown.
What alumni say
Mr Timothy Lukanga, a former student at the institution told this publication that forging graduation booklets is not unheard of.
He says while at the university, two of his friends did not appear on the final graduation list, and this forced them to seek an alternative from Nasser road Graphics designers.
“I had a friend from the school of education who failed to appear in the graduation booklet because of a retake. He went to Nasser road and reprinted another one with his name appearing. He paid about shs300, 000 for the service. Fortunately, the parents neither followed up nor attended his graduation because they were busy with work. But for him, he was there on graduation day to celebrate,” he said.
However, Mr Lukanga added that his friend proceeded with his academics the following year and re-did his paper but never revealed it to his parents.
“Now, he is set to graduate in the forthcoming graduation ceremony and to receive his authentic academic documents,”
In a second similar incident, Mr Lukanga revealed that another friend of his from the college of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), also had many retakes in 30 percent of his course and this could not allow her to graduate.
Although her family was so strict, Mr Lukanga says she was unserious with academics at the university.
“A week towards her graduation, she went to Nasser road and also reprinted a booklet she presented to her parents. She did not share that book with her colleagues. On the graduation day, I saw her with her parents but I did not get to know where she sat,” he adds.
Despite the tight security deployed at checkpoints at the graduation ground, Mr Lukanga said, “The security is always tight on the first day to the third day of the graduation because of the invited big people. So, on the last day, it is very easy to pass through those gates without invitation cards,”
He said a lot of excitement from some parents does not allow them to pay attention when their children’s names are being read, hence missing out on this information,
He therefore advised the parents to always verify these booklets when brought to them by their children and also cross check with other parents they sit with in the graduation tent.
Students’ leaders
Mr Robeert Maseruka, the Institution’s guild president and the guild academic minister Ms Patience Nambaziira, said they have heard about the vice though in a rumor.
Graduands during a recent graduation ceremony at Makerere University. PHOTOS/ FRANK BAGUMA
“I have not seen it but I hear. So, it is hard to solve rumors. Those who reprint do it once and for all, and leave,” Mr Maseruka said.
Mr Maseruka says there is need for parents to invest a lot of time in establishing whether their children are on the official university list
“Parents should also be lectured on how they can confirm the authentic lists, “he added.
University response
Prof Buyinza Mukadasi, the Makerere academic registrar, refuted the claims, arguing; “No student manipulates to get to the graduation list.”
“Makerere has got an elaborate, well-structured framework on how a student transits through their academic journey, from admission, teaching and learning work, examination, and assessment to graduation.
“We have a streamlined procedure for the examination approval of examination results. Its department academic committees consider and approve those who have met the academic program requirements.”
Mukadasi said the Senate only approves graduation lists on the basis of a favorable review and recommendation by the university school and college academic boards.
“It's a discipline decision process. Therefore, allegations of bypass and maneuver do not arise. Such allegations should be disregarded,” he added.
Prof Buyinza also emphasized zero tolerance to academic fraud and added that the university has sanctions to those students and staff that try to violate or breach the university regulations, including dismissal, suspension, or expulsion from the university once found guilty.
“Any student who attempts to influence or connive with another person to alter marks stands a big risk of losing his/her vacancy at the university,” he said.
“Deceit and misrepresentations are incompatible with the fundamental activities of Makerere University and cannot be tolerated. All these are encompassed in the students' code of conduct, which outlaws cheating, plagiarism, and facilitating academic dishonesty,”
However, he admitted that Makerere cannot guard against falsehoods between students and their parents. He advised parents to verify the authenticity of an academic award with the university.
Makerere University is in its final stages of automating all its academic undertakings where they shall begin to publish all graduates online.
According to the statistics from the university authorities, about 20 percent of students fail to graduate in time due to financial, family, social, and employment related constraints.
The institution admits about 18,000 students and graduates over 14,000.
Prof Buyinza said, “This is a good progression statistic and it means we have a smooth pipeline, efficient and enabling education system. However, many talented students fail to graduate because of the general poverty and personal socioeconomic characteristics.
Ministry of Education
Mr John Chrysestom Muyingo, the state minister for higher education, said, “This is bad news for me and I am hearing it for the first time. These are the people putting this country down. We can’t accept this behavior and once we get the information about it we shall enforce the law, I wish you could help me to get to know who these are?”
He blamed some parents for abandoning their role of bringing up their children in a very civilized manner.
“My advice to parents is to bring up their children with necessary morals, values, and characters so that they can be honest and truthful,” he added.
He further advised them to always get in touch with the administrators and find out whether their children are attending school as well as continue following them up wherever they go to avoid regrets.
Minister also called for sensitization of the public about the vice so that parents get back their roles.
"Universities should also aggressively publicize students who are on the programme so that the stakeholders clearly get this information whenever they need it,’ he urged.
Recent cases
This vice seems not to be new in the eyes of some universities’ authorities. While addressing the media on December 4 last year, Kyambogo University vice chancellor, Prof Eli Katunguka, also raised this concern, describing it as “embarrassing”.
“Some parents have approached us after the graduation and asked how come my son or my daughter’s name was not read?” he added.
In an interview with this publication, Prof Katunguka revealed that, during the last graduation, the university registered about four complaints from parents.
“There is one lady who came with the daughter and asked the academic registrar why her daughter’s name was not read. When we checked in our authentic book, her name was not there and we told her they were not on the graduation list. What she gave you was a fake booklet. The woman got frustrated and turned around and beat her daughter, and the girl ran away,” Prof Katunguka narrated.
He said this habit is a common practice at least in every university.
“Mostly, it is practiced by those students who have not studied but have been taking money from their parents and guardians, pretending that they are studying while they are not studying. Some of them could have been discontinued from year one or year two but they hang around the university deceiving whoever may watch them, that they are students,”
He adds that when the graduation comes, some students delude their parents that they are going to graduate, and parents invest a lot of money including buying new attires and organizing parties.
“I think when all that happens, the student feels under pressure to do something which is unethical. They take this book to Nasser road, where most of the forgeries are done from and then they add their names on the list under their programs,”
To curb this vice, the Vice Chancellor urged parents to always follow up their children while at school.
“They should do a follow up on their children, don’t send a child to the university for three, four years and you never asked the administrator whether your child is studying. Some of these young girls drop out and get married, and others go into business and lose their tuition,” he added.
However, he said the university management had thought of publishing the list of graduands on websites or in newspapers but it has not been easy since the institution deals with the different categories of parents, where some are not educated and in the village, so it will be difficult for them to access the information.
Prof Katunguka pointed out that some students connived with the university staff to be added to graduation list and four suspects were identified.
“There are students who have been trying to change their marks through unscrupulous people in IT. We have arrested two of IT staff who were trying to change students’ marks and these students approached them with some money,” he said.
He said the university has a system which tracks all students’ records right from year one to their year of completion and this helps them to find the culprits who alter results.
