The Special Select Committee on Fake Degrees has recommended that jail term and fines be imposed on persons who run tertiary institutions without accreditation from Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).

In the report placed on the table of parliament on the 30th March 2023, the committee recom- mendation that a section on sanction should be added in the TEC Act, wherein persons and institutions who decide to operate without approval should face punishment.

“The Committee proposes the addition of the following in a review of the TEC Act, add a section on sanctions for persons/institutions who decide to run a tertiary and or higher education without the approval or accreditation of TEC. Such action should be liable to a conviction and sentence of 15 years imprisonment, or fine, or both,” a part of the report reads.

It also stated that persons or institutions found guilty of service to an unaccredited institution by lecturing, serving as board member, publishing advert for students’ enrolment, designs and prints certificates without inspecting or vetting the registration and accreditation certificates from the relevant authorities should be liable to conviction, fine and or both.

They also said that there should be a clause for submission of reports with clear reporting guidelines such as programme courses, location, staffing and qualification, scholarship for the needy (if any), income generation, performance of students and compliance with TEC directives.

Highlighting the status of the investigation on fake degrees, the report explained that when the scandal first broke out, the three proprietors of the three institutions that were involved in the fake degree saga were detained for three weeks at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in March to April 2022. It further explained that the investigation on Dominion University only lasted for few months.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in a letter dated April 28, 2022 asked the CID to conduct more investigations, but has not received a response from the police up to the time of writing this report, noting that they lacked resources to pursue the cases.

According to the report, the DPP had listed the weaknesses in the current Tertiary Education Act which makes it difficult to charge offenders to court, adding that no one has been prosecuted for offering fake degrees, nor has any attempt been made to prosecute or penalize those who knowingly and fraudulently acquired such qualifications.

The three institutions that were named when the scandal broke out were Dominion Christian University (Dominion), African Graduate University (AGU), and Post-Graduate Technical Institute (PGTI).

The Special Select Committee was established by after a Member of Parliament Paul Saa Sam who moved a private member’s motion on the 21st April 2023, which was seconded by independent Member of Parliament Quintin Salia Konneh to create a special committee to investigate the issue of fake degree.