Fort Hare University’s former dean of the public administration faculty Professor Edwin Ijeoma allegedly used a fake Master’s degree to get a PhD from the University of Pretoria. Picture: Supplied
THE University of Fort Hare’s former dean of the public administration faculty, Professor Edwin Ijeoma, who allegedly guided the Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane in obtaining a fake PhD, also used a forged master’s degree from a bogus university to get a PhD at the University of Pretoria.
This was detailed in a forensic report looking into allegations of corruption following the irregular admission and registration of two students supervised by Ijeoma.
The report was conducted by Horizon Forensics.
Ijeoma claimed he had a postgraduate Master of Business Administration Marketing degree from Kensington University (KU) in Honolulu, Hawaii.
However, the investigation found that the Master’s degree was obtained from that university that has never been accredited as a degree-conferring institution in the USA.
Ijeoma, who was born in Nigeria, arrived in South Africa in the early 1990s and began his career at the University of Pretoria.
He worked as a teaching assistant while studying towards a PhD before he became a professor of public administration and head of the department at Fort Hare, where he allegedly created his fraudulent empire.
University of Pretoria spokesperson Rikus Delport said according to the regulations at the time, doctoral admission requirements did not include verifying a candidate’s qualifications with a South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) evaluation certificate.
Delport said admission was based on submitting an academic transcript and degree certificate, along with other listed requirements, none of which involved qualification verification.
“Kensington University was shut down by the U.S. government in 2003 for being unaccredited. Concerns about its legitimacy were publicised in the early 2000s. Thus, when Dr Ijeoma completed his MBA and applied for doctoral studies at the University of Pretoria, Kensington University was still operating.
“Thus, the university complied with its admission requirements set out in its general rules at the time when Dr Ijeoma applied for admission in 1999.’’
“By the time Kensington University was shut down, Dr Ijeoma was already nearing completion of his degree, or it may, in fact, already have been conferred on him. Dr Ijeoma complied with all the requirements for the award of the doctoral degree,” said Delport, adding that the university takes these allegations seriously and will do everything “we can to protect the integrity of our qualifications”.
Fort Hare also received questions and did not respond.
In October 2020, Fort Hare suspended Ijeoma on a precautionary basis after allegations surfaced that he had unlawfully enrolled former Eastern Cape MEC Sindiswa Gomba for an honours degree in public administration.
He also helped Mabuyane obtain a PhD without having done any work on the Master’s degree he was irregularly registered for.
It was also reported that Ijeoma allegedly used ghostwriters for Master’s proposals for Mabuyane and MEC Xolile Nqatha.
He resigned in February 2021 while still on suspension.
Horizon said his Master’s degree was a sham.
The report found that there was no certificate number, examination number, or identity or passport number recorded on the degree.
The qualification was granted in 1995 from KU Hawaii, but the institution was only registered in 1996.
“There is no wording on the degree to the effect of a higher education authority or body and statute under which the degree was conferred. Instead, it reads: ‘To all whom these letters shall come greetings, The Trustees of Kensington University, on the recommendation of the Faculty by virtue of the authority in them vested have granted to …’” read the report.
KU began operating in California in 1975. The university applied for the first approval to operate as a degree-issuing institution for its programmes in July 1993.
In July 1994, the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education advised KU California of its decision to deny it degree-granting status. This decision was confirmed by an administrative law judge in a trial court in September 1995.
During the appeal in April 1997, the California Appellate Court judgment confirmed the decision to deny KU’s application to operate as a degree-granting institution. This saw some of the university’s students being transferred to KU Hawaii in order to complete their programmes and be conferred their qualifications.
The KU Hawaii closed its operations in 2003 following a default judgment award in favour of the consumer protection body in Hawaii, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. This was after the consumer protection body sought to interdict KU Hawaii from operating on the basis of, among others, its misrepresentations that it was an accredited institution and was awarding degrees to graduates on this basis.
The court ordered that the university be permanently interdicted from operating and that damages and restitution be awarded to students registered or graduating, applicable for some time.
“The outcome of the institution accreditation check is that Kensington University is not accredited by an accreditor recognised by either CHEA or the USDE (US Department of Education) and Higher Learning Commission.”
“At the very least, we know that he did not receive it from an accredited institution. Even if it were an accredited institution, KU Hawaii was only registered in 1996, and Ijeoma’s degree was purportedly conferred the year prior, in 1995,” stated the report.
The KU degrees are viewed so dimly that in Texas it is considered illegal for an individual to obtain employment and claim advancement on the basis of the university’s degree, and criminal sanctions may be imposed, including a monetary fine or imprisonment.
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za