Forging of academic credentials, according to elites, can be described as a lack of confidence and selfishness on the part of the perpetrator.
Selfishness creeps in when the forger fails to fulfill their job description due to a low level of education.
On the other hand, academic certificate faking is a source of employment when vacancies are occupied by non- professionals. The only recommended remedy to this bad behavior is reinforcement of the set legal punishment against the culprits, to nip the problem in the bud.
Laying an accent on the need to uproot the evil and cleanse society, President John Magufuli has warned that no certificate forger will remain safe during his reign. During the launch of the University of Dar es Salaam hostels recently, the President said he was waiting for a report believed to have contained about 9,000 certificate fraudsters, to react. “You can see to what extent this country has been plunged into total chaos.
We had as many as 19,000 ghost workers and 56, 000 ghost students who were benefiting from government loans,” said the President. Women activists have resolved to raise their voices in support of President Magufuli’s efforts to weed out bad elements in the civil service by introducing the elite women database, of women who possess clearly vetted academic credentials.
The database to be launched soon comprises women professionals in and outside the country.
It was activists from various non-governmental organization and civil societies, under the umbrella of Tanzania Gender Networking programme (TGNP) who reached such decision; saying the main objective of the data base, among others, is to persuade the government to consider women participation in leadership. The activists urged the President to start selecting names from the database, especially when revoking an appointment, saying women should be considered as a replacement.
TGNP Executive Director, Lilian Liundi assured the public that there are many competent professional women for every field, but have been forgotten in leadership matters despite their potential to bring positive change in society. “We have a good number of engineers, economists, environmentalists, doctors… … Let our President give them a chance and see their capability in leadership,” she said. “We have already conducted a keen credentials’ vetting exercise to support the President’s agenda in eliminating fake academic certificates.
Further inspection would only be just the appointment formalities, this database is one hundred per cent reliable,” says Liundi. For sustainability of the database, activists recommended for quality in education for both male and female school children so as to produce many more female professionals.