A Supreme court ruling on Tuesday that upheld the National Council for Higher Education's decision to recall Sembabule Woman MP Anifa Bangirana Kawooya's academic papers has thrown the veteran politician's career in a balance.
The court ruled that NHCE had the right to recall the certificate of equivalence it gave Kawooya in 2005. In 2010, Kawooya petitioned the Constitutional court claiming that her certificate of equivalence had been recalled by the NCHE without giving her a hearing. She said this decision was in contravention of articles 28(1), 42 and 44 of the constitution.
This was after retired Major Kakooza Mutale, a senior presidential advisor, claimed in a report to the NCHE, that Kawooya had forged her academic qualifications. Upon her petition in 2010, the Constitutional court issued a permanent injunction stopping the NHCE from investigating or recalling Kawooya's academic qualifications.
The decision was partly based on the claim that the Supreme court had in its earlier ruling in the Joy Kabatsi petition stated that the MP's papers were authentic.
Dissatisfied with the ruling of the Constitutional court, NCHE appealed to the Supreme court.
On Tuesday, in a unanimous decision, all the seven Supreme court judges ruled that the council had every right to recall or investigate Kawooya's academic papers because they are suspect.
Justice Christine Kitumba, who wrote the lead judgment, pointed out that the degree in public administration that Kawooya claims she obtained in 2001 from Knight Bridge University, UK, should be investigated since the UK authorities had confirmed that the said institution doesn't exist.
"The authorities in UK said that they don't have such a university and then referred the appellant (NCHE) to Denmark... But even the authorities in Denmark said that they don't have such an institution," Kitumba said in her judgment. Read more
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