Irfaan Ali sticks to his guns about authenticity of qualifications

Jan 21, 2019 News

Despite being elected People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali is still to categorically answer questions in the public domain about the authenticity of his qualifications.
Ali’s documents suggest that he may have used a fraudulent transcript to pursue his Master’s Degree programme at an Indian University.

PPP’s Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali

Over a week ago, when asked to comment on the issue, Ali sent out a statement.
The statement read, “I have noted a contrived, concerted campaign to discredit and misrepresent my academic credentials. I have never presented any inaccurate academic achievements. I will not give credence to such organized slander to discredit my wide-ranging academic progress by responding to every single element of the mischievous information being peddled and which objective is to undermine my effort to serve as the PPP Presidential Candidate.
“Certificates reflecting my diplomas and degrees are already in the public domain for scrutiny. Further, I am awaiting additional official transcripts from institutions I have completed studies which I will have no hesitation in making public. I will not be deterred nor intimidated.”
“I have submitted my PhD dissertation for examination on the topic: ‘Design and Development of an Integrated Land Management Model in Guyana’ since September 2018. I am currently awaiting the result of the PhD dissertation evaluation.”
On Saturday, after he was elected, Ali could not have put the issue to rest.
He told the media, “I am sticking to the statement I released.”
Ali renewed his commitment to release transcripts from universities he attended.
Ali said “I have issued a number of certificates and even when you issue the certificates, there are issues raised about the certificates themselves. I have committed to releasing more of what I requested and I will stick to my commitment.”
He continued, “I am confident about my qualification and I am confident of who I am. I will show you one example about how things are manipulated and it just fuels the propaganda and humor mongering. One of my certificates, someone said they called the university and the programme does not exist. I have since written to the University and it has since written me confirming my qualification. So these are the things. I will avoid, the humour mongering, I will not fuel it.”
The certificate Ali was referencing was his first degree which was secured from the University of Sunderland in 2006, some three yours after he graduated with his masters’.
Ali’s purported degree from the University of Sunderland was in Business management.
However, according to the University’s website, it does not offer Business Management.
This, in addition to the fact that his name is incorrectly spelt on the certificate, is raising more questions about the authenticity of Ali’s qualifications.
According to the University of Sunderland, it offers a first degree in Business and Management.
The University offers BA (Hons) Business and Applied Management, BA (Hons) Business and Financial Management, BA (Hons) Business and Applied Financial Management, BA (Hons) Business and Human Resource Management, BA (Hons) Business and Applied Human Resource Management, BA (Hons) Business and Marketing Management, BA (Hons) Business and Applied Marketing Management.
Ali’s Sunderland degree in “Business Management” was reportedly attained in 2006. However, in 2012, when Ali sued Kaieteur News over an article written about his mansion and pool house, he submitted an Affidavit to High Court saying he has a first degree in “International Business” as opposed to “Business Management” as stated on his certificate.
Ali, “being duly sworn” made oath and said, “I am a holder of a first degree in International Business and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Planning and Development. In addition, I registered to do my Doctor of Philosophy degree with the University of West Indies.”
Ali is yet to graduate with his PhD which, according to his sworn Affidavit, he was already signed up for since 2012.
In 2014, Ali was Guyana Times, ‘Person of the Year’.
And in an article that featured him, Ali said, “I attended Leonora Primary, Cornelia Ida Primary and Saint Stanislaus College. I am a project Management Professional (PMP). I hold a first degree in International Business; Post graduate diploma in International Business; Graduate Certificate from the University of the West Indies (UWI) in HR Planning; Master’s from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi (India); and I am currently pursing my PhD at UWI.”
Then, he made no mention of having a degree in “Business Management.”
On Saturday, hours after he was elected, after he skirted issues surrounding his qualification, Ali was asked to lend specific clarification to the reports that he used a fraudulent transcript to get into a Master’s programme.
Ali’s only response was, “Every part of my qualification will be released, I have requested and they will be released.
A dossier containing, among other things, nine of Ali’s academic certificates has been handed to this newspaper.
Information suggests that Ali secured his Master’s on the basis of a first degree from a University that did not even exist.
This was in 2002, after he received a scholarship from the Indian Technical Economic Cooperation Programme.
Among the certificates in the dossier was one from the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University of India. That certificate indicated that, “Mohamed Irfaan Ali successfully completed a one year Master’s Degree in Human Resource Planning Development in the examinations held in January 2003.
Usually, pursuance of a Master’s degree is predicated on the security of a first degree.
However, the documents provided to this newspaper suggest that Ali defied the odds. Ali secured his first degree some three years after his Master’s.
While in India at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University to do his Master’s, Ali presented, among other things, a transcript from the Chamber Business School. That school was supposed to be located on West Demerara.
One Joshua Shafeek was the President of the West Demerara Chamber and Commerce at the time and the transcript was signed by him. While the Business school was registered, it was never accredited neither did it ever offer degree programmes.