The Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) has been operating without the approval of Parliament, a committee ruled yesterday.

It also emerged that the authority did not forward the regulations to operate to Parliament as required by the law.

The Commission for University Education (CUE) and the Technical and Vocational Education Training Authority (TVETA) had complained that powers to certify qualifications are vested in them and not KNQA.

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And now the fight has spilled over to Parliament with members of the Public Investment Committee (PIC) accusing KNQA of adjudicating the role of recognizing academic papers obtained locally or abroad without the approval of Parliament.

Authority Director General Prof Juma Mukhwana was hard pressed by the committee chairman Abdulswamad Nassir to explain why his organisation was operating without the approval of Parliament.

“What concerns the committee is the fact that the authority has been operating without approval by Parliament, you know very well that that is illegal,” said Nassir.

TVETA overzealous But in response, Mukhwana told the committee that the authority was the only legally recognized body mandated to clear academic qualifications.

He said he would not respond to the question as to why the regulations were not forwarded to Parliament since that was the prerogative of the Cabinet Secretary.

Mukhwana said the whole issue was being engineered by TVETA, which wants to allocate themselves assignments which belong to others. “The TVET boss should be tamed.

He wants to be everything. The law is clear that we are the ones mandated to certify qualifications,” he charged. He accuse the TVET chief of being overzealous and unprofessional.

Four government agencies have launched a fresh fight over which of them is authorized to recognize academic papers obtained locally or from foreign institutions. The ministry of education (MOE), the Kenya national qualifications authority (KNQA), technical and vocational training authority (TVETA) and the commission for university education (CUE) all believe they are mandated constitutionally to verify academic papers, leaving them in a competing situation.

This follows a petition filed by George Bala claiming that the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) does not have powers to approve national and foreign qualifications.

According to the petition, such powers are only vested with the Commission for University Education (CUE) and Technical and Vocational Education Training Authority (TVETA).

Justice Anthony Ndung’u , in his November 17^th orders, temporarily stopped KNQA from verifying national and foreign academic qualifications.

The judge issued orders suspending Part III of the Kenya National Qualifications Framework Regulations, which gave it the authority to recognise, equate and verify national and foreign academic qualifications.

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Justice Ndung’u said the orders will remain in force until February 2, 2022, when a suit challenging the powers of Ministry of Education and the KNQA on verification of academic qualifications will be determined.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has now invited the Attorney General Kihara Kariuki’s office to take over the matter.

“Your office should enter appearance for all the respondents and interested parties in the matter coming up for mention on November 16, 2021,” reads Magoha’s letter to the AG.

Magoha also said: “In light of the issues raised in this petition, and as the head of the ministerial docket under which most of the pertinent regulatory bodies are domiciled, I find it imperative to ensure that a consistent position on the various issued posed is taken.”

The petitioner argues that KNQA has been illegally using provisions of the Kenya National Qualifications Framework Regulations to usurp powers vested in CUE and the other authorities mandated to vet all academic qualifications for higher institutions.

“There is nowhere in the Kenya National Qualifications Framework Act where KNQA is vested with the power by Parliament to recognise, equate or verify national and foreign academic qualifications,” Bala, through his lawyer, Deogratious Omondi.

He accused the Ministry of Education of unlawfully making changes to the Kenya National Qualifications Framework Act by introducing the regulations and giving power to KNQA to vet academic certificates when they have no such capacity.

He told the court that under Section 29 of the Kenya National Qualifications Framework Act, the Ministry of education is given powers to make regulations for verification of certificates but the power does not extend to making regulations that illegally usurp the mandates of other bodies.

“The ministry cannot make regulations that are inconsistent with the law. They purported to confer powers to KNQA and in the process violated provisions of the law which also recognises other bodies mandated to verify the certificates,” said Omondi.

According to Omondi, KNQA is only mandated to set the standards for harmonisation and recognition of national and foreign qualifications.

He stated that they were alarmed in January when KNQA, through its chief executive officer, usurped the powers of CUE and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority by announcing that it will start verifying certificates.

Omondi told the court that the move was contradictory and in violation of the law since it is only CUE and the other established agencies that have the required systems and trained personnel to verify academic certificates.

“We are in a critical time where persons seeking elective positions are seeking clearance through recognition, equation, verification and approval of local and foreign academic certificates and it is in the public interest that it is the correct institution that is allowed to do the work,” he said.

Bala in his affidavit to support the application swore that he accessed KNQA’s website in October and discovered that they were illegally charging Sh5,000 for Kenyans seeking recognition of their certificates and Sh10,000 for foreigners seeking the same services.

He claimed the charges which also include an additional Sh1,000 for locals and Sh3,000 for foreigners to verify the certificates was an overreach and usurpation of functions they do not have power to perform.