(MENAFN- The Post)
A former National University of Lesotho (NUL) lecturer fighting for a top government job holds a PhD from a dubious American university notorious for selling degrees.
Dr Oriel Mohale Phehlane, a former diplomat, is in a legal battle to be appointed the principal secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
The basis of his lawsuit against Prime Minister Sam Matekane is that a recruitment panel recommended him for the position based on his experience, academic qualifications and interviews.
Phehlane claims he was recommended by the Public Service Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) but after the interviews the prime minister sidelined him and extended the contract of one Nthoateng Lebona, the incumbent, who had neither applied nor had been interviewed for the job.
Phehlane says based on the government's policy of meritocracy he should be the principal secretary because of his PhD and Masters' degrees from the Washington International University.
But an extensive two-month investigation by thepost has revealed that Washington International University is a notorious degree mill that has been selling fake degrees for nearly 30 years. Founded in 1994, Washington International University has no campus and has never been accredited.
It claims to be an online university, touting itself as a“cyberspace university” and“university without borders” in its marketing materials.
The university was founded by one Yil Karademir and his wife who ran it from a small office listed as its mailing address.
Its website, which now appears to have been closed, advertises“accelerated” degrees completed within one year with“no textbooks to read, curriculum to follow or formal exams to take”.
It promises that a student can earn a“traditional” bachelor's degree after just 10 courses.
A student can earn a bachelor's or Master's after submitting three book reports selected by what the university calls an“instructor”, and a research paper.
The website says the university's course materials are written in“simple language” that makes it easy for“an average person” to“understand what is written”.
The university touts the Encyclopedia Britannica, a general knowledge encyclopedia, as part of its reference library.
Its PhD students have to submit a thesis supervised by what the university calls“instructors”, not supervisors as they are called by reputable universities.
Students can use past work experience as credits to complete a PhD in two years.
That appears to have been the case with Phehlane, who was awarded a PhD after two years on August 15, 2008.
The university had also awarded him a Masters degree which he completed within a year in 2006.
thepost requested to see Phehlane's PhD thesis and it took him two weeks to deliver.
The 51-page thesis titled“Patterns and Impact of Foreign Direct Investment – Exploratory Perspective” extensively cites Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica and other websites.
It seems some of the books in the bibliography don't exist and those that exist have not been properly cited, with the reference pages not corresponding with what has been cited.
In some cases, Phehlane appears to have picked a reference from the internet and plonked it on the bibliography without any link to what he had written.
The content itself is replete with glaring spelling mistakes and pedestrian statements. Other parts appear to have been plagiarised from a business quiz website.
The thesis describes itself as a study but there is no evidence to suggest that any research was conducted. It doesn't mention the research question, where the fieldwork was done, the source of the data and how it was analysed.
thepost reached out to four professors, two local and two regional, for their opinion on what Phehlane calls his thesis.
They were of the unanimous view that what Phehlane calls a PhD thesis doesn't pass a first-year academic essay. One professor described it as a“rumbling report that says absolutely nothing”.
Another said it is“academic fraud to call such nonsense a PhD thesis”.
“This is bad, it's just bad,” said another.“It's not PhD material and should never be regarded as such,” said the other professor.
The red flags in Phehlane's PhD thesis go beyond the dubious citations, hints of plagiarism, the lack of research, the lack of original thought, shallow statements and grammatical errors.
In his CV Phehlane gives the PhD's title as“Patterns and Impact of Foreign Direct Investment: Global Perspective”.
The thesis that Phehlane gave to thepost is titled“Patterns and Impact of Foreign Direct Investment – Exploratory Perspective
A letter issued by the university to supposedly confirm the award says the PhD thesis was titled“Patterns and Impact of Foreign Direct Investment”.
So in three documents the thesis is mentioned with three different titles.
Curiously, the university's letter“to whom it may concern” was issued on August 15, 2008, the same day Phehlane was awarded the doctorate.
Reputable universities don't issue such letters to students on graduation day.
The name of his instructor also changes several times.
The thesis identifies the 'supervisor' as Dr S Fredericks while the“To whom it may concern” letter calls him Dr S Frederick. Phehlane's CV calls him Dr S Frederick.
A Google search doesn't show a Dr S Fredericks or Dr S Frederick who fits that profile. Phehlane swore that Dr S Fredericks or Dr S Frederick exist but could not identify him when shown people with similar names on Google.
This is despite that Phehlane claims Dr S Fredericks or Dr S Frederick also supervised his Masters' degree with the same university. In other words, he cannot identify the person he closely worked with for three years.
The university's letter describes Phehlane as“very enthusiastic and punctual with his studies”.
It says Phehlane's“advisor”“Stephen Fredericks, PhD”“found this paper to be a comprehensive exploration of Foreign Director Investment concepts, presented in a remarkable clear, concise manner and it was awarded a grade of A”.
The thesis seen by thepost and scrutinised by four professors doesn't seem remarkably, concise or worth a Grade A.
In 2000, the State of Hawaii forced the Washington International University to dissolve its incorporation for dishonesty after allegedly failing to disclose to prospective students that it was not accredited to award degrees. The university was also fined.
The Washington International University used to identify as Washington University until the late 1990s when it was sued by the Washington University in St Louis for copyright infringement and unfair competition. The institution changed its name to Washington International University as part of the settlement of that lawsuit. The Washington University of St Louis had however told the judge in its court papers that Karademir's university, which was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands operating from a tiny office in Washington, was a degree mill.
Karademir, the founder, later claimed that they didn't know Washington University in S. Louis existed when they chose the name Washington University in 1994.
The Washington University in St Louis was 141 years old in 1994, the year Karademir claims to have been unaware of its existence when she started calling his unaccredited institution 'Washington University'.
Several states and institutions in the United States have warned students that Washington International University is a degree mill.
Some have described its degrees as“substandard” while others say they don't accept them as qualifications for employment purposes.
Phehlane's CV also has other issues that could raise alarm.
He claims to have earned his first degree in 1999 from Newport University, another unaccredited university routinely listed as a degree mill.
Newport University claims to be accredited with the International Distance Education Accreditation League Inc (IDEAL), a Philippines organisation in which it is a 'first level member”, having been involved as a member of the“founding governance board” and at“advisory level”.
It is common for unaccredited universities to claim to be accredited with opaque institutions they either formed or financed. This is generally a ruse to give them a veneer of credibility.
Newport University should not be confused with Christopher Newport University, an accredited private university in the United States.
Phehlane's CV shows that his first qualification was a diploma in Sales and Marketing, earned from the Cambridge Tutorial College in the United Kingdom in 1996.
It says he earned an Accounting in Business and Management diploma from the same college in the same year.
Cambridge Tutorial College is registered as a non-profit organisation but there is no evidence that it ever offered such diplomas. Its digital footprint is virtually non-existent and it should not be confused with the Cambridge Tutors College which offers classes in 'A' Level subjects like Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, English and Geography.
The CV shows that from 2004 to 2009 Phehlane was pursuing a Postgraduate Diploma in Governance with the University of Free State in South Africa.
Yet on his LinkedIn he claims to have graduated with the same diploma from the same university in 2004. He claims to have earned a postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning from“Ashworth University” in 2009.
There is no institution officially called Ashworth University. It is unclear if Phehlane meant Ashworth College, the private college based in Georgia, (USA). He claims to have earned a postgraduate diploma in International Policy and Diplomacy from Staffordshire (UK) in 2009.
This means in 2009 alone Phehlane earned three postgraduate diplomas from the UK (Staffordshire), United States (Ashworth University) and South Africa (University of Free State).
The CV shows that in 2019 alone Phehlane earned four professional qualifications. They include Chartered Management Consultant (Canada), Certified Financial Risk Management Consultant (USA), Certified Financial Analyst (USA) and Certified Financial Consultant (USA).
He achieved the three postgraduate diplomas while working full-time as a diplomat as Technical Financial Advisor at Lesotho's Embassy to the European Union.
According to the CV, Phehlane has a PhD, a Masters, a Bachelors, three postgraduate diplomas, two diplomas and four professional qualifications.
Three of the six institutions from which he claims to have earned his degrees and diplomas have questionable credentials.
There seems to be a pattern in that all those institutions share some part of their names with reputable institutions.
For Cambridge Tutorial College there is the famous Cambridge University and the Cambridge Tutors College. For Washington International University there is the accredited Washington University in St Louis. For Ashworth University there is the real Ashworth College.
The difference in the time Phehlane claims to have completed his postgraduate diploma at the University of Free State also raises doubts about the qualification.
On LinkedIn he claims to have graduated from the University of Free State in 2009 but his CV states that he graduated in 2004.
Phehlane claims to have started his career as an Account Executive at the European Business Services in South Africa.
A year later, he moved in the same role to Johnnic Communications in South Africa. Between 2002 and 2005 he was a senior Financial Officer at the Ministry of Finance. He claims to have held the same role with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2011, with stints as Lesotho's diplomat in the EU and South Africa.
Between 2013 and 2017 he was the Head of Cash Management at the Ministry of Finance, during which time he also worked as a part-time lecturer at the NUL, the Centre for Accounting Studies and the Institute of Development Management.
He also says he was once the Acting Deputy Account General – Cash Management at the Ministry of Finance.
Phehlane now works as a management consultant.
Phehlane defends PhD
Dr Mohale Phehlane vehemently insists that the Washington International University, the institution from which he earned his questionable PhD, is a genuine institution despite its lack of accreditation.
Phehlane was responding to thepost's questions about the legitimacy of the Washington International University.
The story casts doubt on the university's credentials on the basis that it is unaccredited, has no campus, is notorious for being a degree mill and Phehlane's PhD doesn't seem to meet basic standards.
Phehlane however says universities don't need to be accredited.
“It is optional in many countries like America. A private university like this one is not forced by law to have its programmes accredited,” Phehlane says.
He says those who say universities should be accredited don't know what accreditation means. Phehlane says the main reason for accreditation is that“governments don't sponsor students who attend unaccredited universities”.
“That is the main purpose. So, for private universities where students source funds for themselves there is no reason to be accredited”.
“There is no need at all for universities to be accredited if their students are not to be sponsored by the government. Universities that are eyeing government sponsorship for their students feel compelled to be accredited”.
Asked how employers worldwide would trust the quality of his degrees from an unaccredited university, Phehlane produced a document which he said opened doors wherever he worked.
It is an apostille, an official certificate from a government that makes a document from one country acceptable in another, or the system of using such certificates.
The apostille he produced has been signed by a lawyer in the United States, showing that his certificates were originals from the Washington International University.
The apostille is based on the 1961 convention at The Hague which provides for the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention.
However, the apostille does not state that a certificate meets any set standards but just confirms that it is an authentic document from the source that issued it.
The apostille, therefore, doesn't confirm if Phehlane's Washington International University and PhD are genuine. It is not a verification system.
Yet Phehlane insists that the apostille authenticates his PhD.
“We have no problem in Lesotho accepting apostilled educational certificates like mine because Lesotho is a signatory to the convention,” he says.
He says many alumni from the Washington International University are holding prominent positions in many countries because their countries have signed to be parties in the convention”.
Phehlane mentions the Central Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya who holds a doctorate from the Washington International University. Mangudya's PhD from the university has long been questioned for the same reason that Phehlane's PhD is being queried.
He also mentions a judge in the Ugandan High Court who also obtained qualifications from the same university.
“Surely, you cannot say people who hold such sensitive and crucial positions have questionable qualifications and bodies that hired them failed to see that.”
“There are many alumni in high positions in many countries, some teaching at universities.”
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