Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has tasked government to mount a crackdown on forged academic documents.
Kadaga was speaking at the ecumenical Thanksgiving Service, a religious event that brings together all denominations during the annual Parliament Week.
Kadaga’s demand followed a sermon in which Monsignor Lawrence Ssemusu decried the reported increase in the forgery of academic documents in the country mainly facilitated by services on Nasser Road, in Kampala.
Nasser Road, a one-stop centre for printing and related services, employing an estimated 6,000 people according to the Uganda Printers Association (UPA) has often come under attack for aiding the forgery of academic certificates, passports and driving licenses and lately National Identity Cards.
“You have jolted me out of my reverie, especially in relation to the academic factory at Nasser Road. It’s true that we know about it but somehow, nothing happens. I see it frequently, especially when there are cabinet appointments,” Kadaga said.
She added that parliament’s appointments committee has previously thrown out a number of cabinet nominees after it was clear that their academic papers had been manufactured at Nasser Road. She, however, said that after this action, somehow parliament does not look at the next step.
Kadaga appealed to the government to handle the matter saying that it has the capacity, resources and expertise to solve the problem which she said seems huge for one institution like parliament.
