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Article Published on:
19th August 2004. |
| Sebaggala’s degree is air |
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By Emmanuel N. Mugarura Hajji Nasser Ntege Sebaggala, the man who wants to be president of Uganda in 2006, did not graduate from Ruskin College in Oxford as he claims. The former mayor of Kampala has been telling his supporters and critics alike that he graduated with a degree in Political Science and Economics from Ruskin College. However, The Weekly Observer has established that Ruskin College does not offer any degree courses in Politics and Economics; neither does it hold any such graduation ceremonies.
“All the courses we currently offer are outlined on our website [www.ruskin.ac.uk], from which you will see that we do not offer a BA in Political Science and Economics,” Ruskin College Academic Registrar, Ms Jackie Cameron, told The Weekly Observer. Sebaggala had told The Weekly Observer’s correspondent in the United Kingdom, Kyle Evans, in an exclusive interview on July 10, that he graduated with a master’s degree in Politics and Economics from “Oxford University” on June 10. Evans interviewed Sebaggala on Saturday, July 10, 2004 at Deptford, London. Moreover, according to the unedited transcript of the interview, Sebaggala claims he was at Oxford University: Evans’ question: Congratulations on completing your studies. What qualifications have you attained? Sebaggala’s unedited answer: “I came here as somebody who does not have the required qualifications and then submitted my qualifications to Oxford for assessment which came out to the equivalent of a diploma. So I was allowed one year as a bridge then studied for three years to attain a master’s degree in Politics and Economics of Oxford University”. In an apparent change of story, Sebaggala recently told the local media that he obtained a [first] degree in Political Science and Economics from Ruskin College, having first attended Oxford College and Plater College before joining Ruskin. However, the college’s academic registrar, Ms Cameron said, “Since we do not offer degrees, we do not have a graduation ceremony.” During his ‘graduation party’ in London, Sebaggala said a Mr Surinders Biant was instrumental in getting him enrolled at Ruskin College. It is not clear who Biant really is, but that name does not appear anywhere on the Ruskin staff list. The three colleges Sebaggala claims to have attended are all in the Oxford area, but they are not in any way associated with the prestigious University of Oxford. The former mayor has not been keen to make that clarification either. There is also no chance that Sebaggala could have obtained a master’s degree in Politics and Economics as he implied in the July interview with The Weekly Observer. “We do offer two MA courses: in Women’s Studies and in Public History [part time], but their exam board is not held until September and there is no graduation ceremony,” Ms Cameron, told The Weekly Observer. The college also runs a Diploma of Higher Education in Social Change. The rest of the programmes are community courses, leading to the award of ordinary certificates. Courses within the Certificate of Higher Education include Community and Youth Work, Computing, Creative Writing, Economics, English, Employment Studies, History, Law, Politics, Sociology and Women’s Studies. It is possible, perhaps, that Sebaggala enrolled for one of these – especially because the college also targets adults with few or no academic qualifications. Ruskin College will introduce, for the first time, a BA Honours in Social Work starting in September 2004 to replace the existing Diploma in Social Work programme. The course will run over three years for full time students and four years for part time students. In other words, if Sebaggala ever earned any degree at all, it was definitely not from Ruskin College. Interestingly, he will not say from where else. Sebaggala, who returned to Uganda two weeks ago with much pomp after three years in the United Kingdom, has been waving around some form of papers and adorning himself in academic gowns as a sign of successful completion of his studies. Caps and umbrellas, among other paraphernalia, bearing the presidential aspirant’s portrait in an academic gown have been widely distributed. Sebaggala’s presidential ambitions evaporated in thin air in 2001 after the flamboyant politician failed to produce the required academic qualifications, a minimum of A-levels or its equivalent. He subsequently left for the United Kingdom, ostensibly to improve his academic standing to a level that would enable him contest in presidential elections. It now appears that Sebaggala’s “degree” is a kicupuli, the term applied to fake cheques and bank fraud for which the ex-mayor was famously convicted in the United States in 1998. Citing British data protection law, Ms Cameron could not confirm or deny that Sebaggala ever enrolled at the college. Sebaggala’s official spokesman, who is also the MP for Makindye East, Michael Mabikke, was ambiguous about the ‘politically sensitive’ matter, saying that he is not aware of any contradictions between Sebaggala’s claims and the information from Ruskin College. “All I know is that he (Sebaggala) got his degree, that’s all,” Mabikke told The Weekly Observer. The MP said that contrary to popular belief that he and many others attended Sebaggala’s graduation ceremony; he only attended the “party for the successful completion of studies.” “For me I attended the party and not the graduation ceremony. The Ugandans in UK organised the party for him after completing his studies,” Mabikke said. Mabikke also contradicted Sebaggala on the kind of degree he got. “Some of those reports are not accurate… I don’t think he told anyone that he had got a master’s degree.” Mr Meddie Ssebagala, the ex Kampala mayor’s brother, refused to comment, saying Mabikke was Sebaggala’s spokesman. Efforts to talk to Sebaggala were futile, but Mabikke said, “even if you talk to him, it will not help you. He will have to refer you back to me.” |
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