Dear Editor,
The Office of the President is the most respected office in the land. It is most sacred, held by citizens in the highest regard and a symbol of truth, morality, authority and leadership. These ought to be the standard even if we have ways to go to get there. With reference to the questioning of the academic credentials of PPP presidential hopeful Mr. Irfaan Ali, I like most Guyanese am very concerned about the following:
1. Where is Mr. Ali’s bachelor’s degree transcript that was used to gain entrance to the ITEC master’s degree programme? Releasing a slew of certificates that are irrelevant to this question does not answer this question and inspire confidence.
2. Private citizens or non-education organizations do not issue academic transcripts. It is normal practice for credible universities to request applicants to have their bachelor’s degree transcripts sent directly from the issuing university. It appears that Mr. Ali was asked to do the same when applying for the master’s except we have no clue at which university he completed his undergraduate studies – again the bachelor’s degree used to gain entrance on the master’s programme, not what he did after.
3. Mr. Safeek who reportedly issued the transcript on Mr. Ali’s behalf cannot provide any single piece of information to prove the authenticity of the university. When pressed for details he simply deflected and redirected the question back to Mr. Ali – a classic case of deflection and circular reasoning used by politicians to not answer questions.
4. The Ministry of Education must have records of the existence and accreditation of the university from where Mr. Ali claims he got his undergraduate degree used to gain access to the master’s programme. The Ministry of Education has not provided any information on the existence of this university.
5. Can Mr. Ali provide names of his classmates and lecturers at the university?
6. Can Mr. Ali point to the parent institution of this university?
7. Can Mr. Ali provide details as to the physical location of the university including where classes were held? Clearly, local residents would know if a university was in their community. This should make it easy to fact-check.
The Guyanese people deserve the truth.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
