UGANDA: Makerere staff arrested over forgery of marks

By Dear Jeanne

Kampala, Uganda.

Police yesterday arrested two system administrators in the Office of the Academic Registrar at Makerere University for allegedly tampering with students’ marks, with two more suspects in the same department still at large.

The morning raid at the Senate Building, according to sources, was prompted by complaints from the School of Economics and Management that the results, which had been approved by the Senate and those pinned on the students’ notice boards and uploaded on the university website, were different from what the school submitted to the Senate.

The two suspects, who were by press time still being held Wandegeya Police Station, are alleged to have been facilitators of a fraudulent practice that has been ongoing for some time.

The operation was commanded by Mr Daniel Okumu, the deputy head of Makerere University Police. “Yes, we are investigating the complaints raised by Faculty of Economics and Management. We cannot give details as they may jeopardise the investigations,” Mr Okumu told Daily monitor.

University and academic registrar officials remained still tight-lipped about the operation.

For long, students at Uganda’s oldest university have complained of a number of malpractices in the academic registrar’s office which ranger from awarding of marks and even degrees to awarding of courses to students who do not qualify as well as selling of students’ places, among others.

Source: Daily Monitor (16/10/2012): http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Makerere+staff+arrested+over+forgery+of+marks/-/688334/1534128/-/10d8y9v/-/index.html