Over 400 holders of fake academic documents to appear in court – Changson

JUBA – South Sudan’s Minister of Higher Education, Science & Technology Gabriel Changson Lew Chang has said that the government has launched a court case against more than 400 South Sudanese citizens holding fake academic documents from Uganda.

Last year, information minister and government spokesman Michael Makuei Lueth said some 400 citizens including government employees have been caught red-handed with fake academic certificates ranging from diplomas to PhDs.

“These documents were disqualified and the number is big. In Uganda, there were over 400 people with fake certificates, diplomas, degrees, or even PhDs and master degrees,” Makuei told journalists following a cabinet meeting in January.

“All those who will be found in possession of forged documents, their names should be released officially and they should be prosecuted before the court,” Makuei added while pointing out that the number could be higher than expected.

Now, Changson is saying that the government has launched a court case against the holders of the certificates and that the criminals are expected to appear in court in the near future.

“We have identified 400 to 500 fake certificates in the country and the effect of these fake certificates affects the quality of education. So, we have instituted a legal case against some of them already and soon they appear in before court,” he told the City Review.

He further expressed concerns over fake academic documents and said the ministry of higher education is working hand-in-hand with the ministry of general education to make sure that such cases are mitigated.

“The issue of fake certificates is a serious issue and we in the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology together with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction are working hand in hand to fight this practice,” he said.

“There are still other avenues that the fake certificates can enter the higher education; one of the ways is through the direct admission in the university. In the last year’s admission we detected 13 fake certificates and this year’s admission we had detected 15 and we referred them to general education for scrutiny and to take action against those who are involved,’’ he added.