By Dr. John Idriss Lahai
Who is Mr. Yayah Kamarakeh?
Mr. Yayah Kamarakeh or Kamarake (as stated on his Transcript) is the Assistant Director of Lands in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning, Government of Sierra Leone. He is also a law (LLB) student at the University of Makeni (UNIMAK).
THE ISSUES:
- His degree (a Master of Business Administration, MBA) is a case of forgery.
- This MBA degree was among the documents he presented (to the Public Service Commission) as part of his application for promotion to the Ministry of Lands.
- Mr. Yayah Kamarake used this forged MBA degree to apply for his LLB studies at UNIMAK.
WHERE DID HE “ACQUIRE” THIS DEGREE?
According to him, this MBA degree was ‘given’ to him by Synergy University (a private University in Russia) in the year 2020 (see a copy of the degree and transcripts).
MY INVESTIGATIONS
Initially, I made several calls to Synergy University! But nobody within this University was able to trace his admission via the phone.
I had to engage the services of a private investigator in Moscow, Russia’s Capital City. Yes. You heard me right. I had to hire someone in Russia; a bilingual: someone who is fluent in both English and Russian.
I forwarded Mr. Yayah Kamarake’s transcript to this Russian investigator (see the attached evidence of the email exchanges between him and a representative of Synergy University). The investigator sent an email to a representative of Synergy University, Mr. Muratov Makhambet, who concluded that the transcript was a forgery. In his email response to my hired investigator in Russia, Mr. Makhambet (see the screenshots also) wrote the following message:
“Don’t you think this file looks strange and you can see it was written on top? So without a good scan, I can’t tell anything about this diploma.”
Prompted by the representative’s request for a clearer copy of the transcript, my hired investigator took the printed copies of the transcripts to Synergy University. He met with another representative (a senior official) of the university, who collected the document from him. They promised to call him back when they were done with their internal investigation. This senior university representative called my investigator (on the 16th of May 2022) to report the outcome of their investigation. He also reached the same conclusion as Mr. Muratov Makhambet — that Yayah Kamarake’s MBA degree was a forgery. This senior University representative also explained that they (that is, Synergy University) were of the view that Mr. Yayah Kamarake (or his associate; the person who forged this transcript for him) had skilfully used a tempera water-based paint that matched the colour of the stationery that they (Synergy University) used on the original transcript that was tampered with. When the paint dried off they (the forgers) wrote (using the English Language) the preferred subjects offered and the title of the dissertation that was suggested for or by Mr. Yayah Kamarake.
I have placed a red line on the visible areas where the tempera water-based paint was used to cover the original details on the transcript. See the attached transcripts.
SUGGESTIONS
- I believe (based on the outcomes of my investigation) that Mr. Yayah Kamarake’s MBA was forged. He should be investigated and dismissed from the Civil Service.
- I don’t have faith in the Anti-Corruption Commission (and the Anti-Corruption Commissioner). However, this is an opportunity for the Public Service Commission to ask Mr. Yayah Kamarake what led him to submit to them this forged MBA degree to support his application for promotion.
- The Public Service Commission should also answer to Parliament: they should explain why they failed to verify the MBA degree of Mr. Yayah Kamarake.
- Since Mr. Yayah Kamarake used this forged MBA degree to apply for his LLB studies at UNIMAK, they (UNIMAK) should terminate his enrolment.
