THE independent committee initially appointed by the Pharmacy Council of Tanzania to review the pharmacy courses offered at Kampala International University’s (KIU), Dar es Salaam campus has found out that some students pursuing the course at certificate level presented fake certificates.
Speaking to the ‘Sunday News’ in Dar es Salaam on Saturday in an exclusive interview, the Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of Tanzania, Ms Elizabeth Shekalaghe, said KIU administration has been notified over the fake certificates and several recommendations are to be met before its registration to the Council.
“It is upon the university to take action against those who presented forged certificates,” she said. She said that once KIU fulfils all the recommendations, its registration will be done.
“We are going to send a team of inspectors to KIU to establish whether the recommendations suggested have been addressed,” she said.
Commenting on the recommendations, KIU Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dr Abanis Turyahebwa welcomed the positive developments, saying that, “It is clear that the seven students that met all the requirements will now have to evaluate their certificates through the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) and be registered by the Pharmacy Council.”
However, he said that the students who are cited in the report to have presented forged certificates, have not completed the course.
The Registrar cautioned that given the revelations it is of great concern that if there are no systems to check such anomalies in certificates presented, it is likely that the pharmaceutical industry will be compounded incompetent, a danger to the public.
“If deliberate measures are not taken to address this problem, there is a risk that mismanagement and the abuse of drugs will spread,” she cautioned.
She added that other issues that have been addressed include the status of the University, which was registered as a constituent college.
It is now clear that for those students who did not forge their certificate, and have met the requirements upon their recruitment at KIU, the university will submit evidence of the bridging courses which were offered to them and the exams that they undertook.
“Once we receive all this information and verify it, these students will obtain registration following all the Council’s procedures,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Council has said that KIU as from this academic year will be required to follow the national pharmaceutical curriculum and adhere to the central admission system.
She said that by the law the Council is supposed to publish the names of all institutions which qualify to offer pharmaceutical courses, which she confirmed will take place soon.
Recently government intervened to end the standoff between the Pharmacy Council of Tanzania and Kampala International University (KIU), Dar es Salaam.
The students’ boycott at KIU, which lasted for three weeks, was characterised by a state of uncertainty and fear as to what would be the fate of students pursuing courses in pharmacy after completion of their studies.
The registrar disclosed that the Council has appointed an independent committee, which consists of the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE), Muhimbili University for Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) to review KIU’s pharmaceutical curriculum so as to identify gaps and make recommendations to the Council before its full registration.
