Botho University�s MBA Program In Limbo
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday September 19, 2016 16:16
In 2014 Botho University submitted their application to BQA for the MBA program with a list of lecturers they had recruited for the program, among them Busisiwe Ndlovu and Stanley Thuku Waithaka.
However the BQA’ program review experts found that the duo’s qualifications were suspicious, leading to BQA investigating how they acquired their Phd’s.
The outcome of the verification of the awarding body was that New World Mission Dunamis International University which awarded the degrees, was neither registered nor accredited with the South African regulatory authorities, thus BQA could not recognise the qualifications and consequently deferred Botho University’s MBA program, information gathered by the Monitor reveals.
Responding to the Monitor questionnaire Botho University’s marketing manager Tebogo Matebesi seemed to put the blame on external agencies whom they engage to do verification of qualifications during recruitment.
He would not want to state what other programs were the bogus lecturers in charge of at Botho prior to being identified as suitable lecturers for Botho’s MBA program.
BQA spokesperson Selwana Koppenhaver admitted they rejected Botho University’s choices for the MBA program which has since been deferred pending fulfillment of certain criteria they are currently discussing with the University in house.
While admitting that they have now terminated the contracts of the bogus lecturers, Botho University would not state when they did so, considering that they were told over a year ago by BQA that at least two of their lecturers for the program were bogus.
“It is true that we have had to terminate the services of some staff members when we found out that they possessed unrecognized qualifications. At the time of hiring, the staff members held certificates from institutions that we were not aware were bogus institutions. We have a strict policy that we will not hire those with unrecognized qualifications and should we become aware that a staff member’s qualification is questionable we take immediate steps to deal with the matter within the realms of the labour law and in the interest of our students”.
“It is true that BQA directed us to the fact that some of the qualifications were not recognized in the case of these staff members. We believe that regulatory bodies such as BQA provide institutions with valuable support in verifying qualifications. BQA found this on validation of qualifications when the CVs were submitted for the MBA programmes since these lecturers were in the Faculty of Business and Accounting and were identified to take on the MBA programme. Botho has not yet launched the MBA programme”, said Botho in response to the Monitor questionnaire.
Botho University was not willing to respond to a number of questions saying that they were not prepared to get into specifics amidst fears that the recent revelations may be a tip of an iceberg.
Meanwhile the Monitor has learnt that bogus qualifications have become a security concern with DCEC and DIS investigators estimating that the economy may have 80-100 cases of bogus professionals.