KAMPALA — Oyam North Member of Parliament Dr. Eunice Apio Otuko appealed for diplomatic intervention to protect Ugandan graduates whose international academic opportunities had been threatened by accreditation errors involving the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE).
Otuko asked Parliament to consider directing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a sovereign diplomatic note to international education authorities to safeguard Ugandan scholars affected by the accreditation database backlog.
Her proposal followed the case of a Ugandan graduate who reportedly lost a funded Master’s scholarship in Poland after the undergraduate degree in Food Science and Technology from Makerere University was not reflected as accredited on NCHE’s live database.
She argued that the absence of valid programmes from the online system had created unnecessary difficulties for graduates seeking admission to foreign universities and other international academic institutions.
Otuko also questioned the effectiveness of manual documentation as a solution, observing that international education agencies generally relied on verified digital records when assessing academic qualifications.
She urged the government to pursue diplomatic engagement alongside domestic administrative reforms to prevent more graduates from suffering similar setbacks.
Responding to the concerns, a government representative disclosed that the matter had already been followed up through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including meetings with the Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Secretary.
The representative further stated that efforts had been made to obtain a diplomatic letter to address the challenges affecting the graduate.
Otuko’s appeal brought attention to the diplomatic dimension of Uganda’s accreditation challenges, particularly the need to protect graduates whose qualifications faced verification difficulties abroad.
