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Universities in two East African countries, Kenya and Tanzania, have come under fire for prolifically awarding honorary degrees – in some cases allegedly for money and in others in return for influence.

People in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have been found buying fake degrees of all sorts from diploma mills and other bogus universities. Those universities have no physical existence and operate only through websites. Most diploma mills are operating from Britain or United States where academic standards are presumed to be very high. Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigations compiled a list of over 10,000 persons who obtained fake degrees from diploma mills in USA. A significant number of them are from South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. Currently, there are about 80 notorious diploma mills that operate from the United States and the UK.

231 students have obtained degree certificates from a Nairobi university with no official sanction to operate. As a result the certificates risk be useless. The Government did nothing to stop these students pursuing an expensive four-year programme.

Recently 231 university students learnt that the degrees they had been awarded were recognized. The university in question, Newport University, which also exists in the USA, is not accredited by any agency recognised by the US Department of Education. It is one of several institutions operating in California without accreditation but with licensure by the Bureau of Private and Vocational Higher Education of the State of California.

Widespread cheating in the 2004 KCSE examination has been discovered. The civil society want the government to explain why it has failed to stop examination cheating. Some 1,739 candidates from 107 schools had their results cancelled for cheating. Out of this, 1,617 were found to have colluded with each other, 134 were caught with unauthorised information during the exams and another 16 were found impersonating.

Japan. Kenya. Mexico. United Kingdom. USA: People from the Kenyan Ministry of Education participated in selling fake diplomas. In the USA and Mexico, students buy term papers and admissions essays online. People propose to take tests for others in China.