A study made on civil servants in the Southern region of Ethiopia exposes 3,200 employees recruited in government institutions using forged credentials.
The study conducted over the last six years shows that a total of 3,200 civil servants are found recruited in government institutions in Southern region of Ethiopia with fake university credentials. This is indicated in a report by the ruling party owned media FBC, which quoted public service and human resources development bureau of the region.
The report stated that the majority of the fake documents are found in Sidama zone of South region. Mekonnen Mengistu, Deputy head of human resources development bureau of South region, indicated that legal measure was taken against those found working as civil servants in the region using fake university degrees, diplomas and certificates.
In order to tackle the problem, the Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency of Ethiopia is currently working to introduce a modern database next month, to allow institutions verify authenticity of degrees, diplomas and certificates before recruiting employees, the report stated.
The Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ (South region of Ethiopia) comprises 10% of the total area of Ethiopia. The region is administratively divided in to 9 zones, 72 woredas and 5 special woredas (districts). The total population size of South region is 10,377,028 of which 5,161,787 were males and 5,215,241 females, according to the 1994 census.
Latest reports show that the number of people with fake university degrees, diplomas and certificates has been growing in Ethiopia. Recently, the transport authority of Addis Ababa City indicated that it has fired several employees who were found employed with fake credentials. Some people believed that priority to political affiliation and loyalty by the regime over merit and professionalism has contributed to the growing number of civil servants working in government institutions with forged credentials.