It is the prerogative of a Prime Minister under the Westminster Parliamentary system of democracy to select each and every person he/she wants to sit in the government of the day.
As such THE NEW TODAY has no intention of calling on Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell to sack/fire/dismiss his controversial Minister of State for Information, Senator Winston Garraway from the current government over recent incidents.
Instead, this newspaper sees the issue as one of whether Sen. Garraway is a fit and suitable person to hold public office in Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique in light of new information surfacing about the “fake” Honorary Doctorate that he is knowingly parading with on the national stage.
The Prime Minister has the resources at his disposal to launch an immediate investigation to determine whether the Honorary Doctorate Degree conferred on his government minister three years ago is real, a fake or a sham intended by Sen. Garraway to boost his own profile among Grenadians.
Dr. Mitchell is the lead Prime Minister within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Science and Technology and should be fully equipped to use his own laptop to google the United Graduates College and Seminary International (UGCSI), a Christian-based online college in the United States and to get information about its activities.
According to Geteducated.com web portal, UGCSI is affiliated to the World-Wide Accreditation Commission of Christian Educational Institutions (WWAC) which it identifies as among the top 40 bodies in the United States offering fake degrees and not authorised to confer degrees by the United States Department of Education (USDE) or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), the agencies that perform educational accreditation in the US.
As a key player in the Ministry of Information, Sen. Garraway had an obligation to do the necessary due diligence on the group that conferred this “fake” Honorary Doctorate on him and to decide whether he should be associated or refrain from them using his “good” name to advance their cause.
He had a duty to inform or disclose to the nation the credentials of these people giving him a degree which he is now parading as a public figure and badge of honour as a government minister.
It is significant that not one single government minister in the NNP administration accompanied Sen. Garraway to the ceremony that was held in Morne Rouge in 2016 to accept this clearly bogus doctorate award.
Sen. Garraway is a man of the cloth as a Pastor and is very versed in the bible especially the scripture verse, Matthew 7:15-16: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognise them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Also, John 10:1-42 says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep”.
Sen. Garraway ought to know that there is a particular real and honest road to walk to get a credible doctorate that can stand up to the test of time.
It is quite obvious to us at THE NEW TODAY that Sen. Garraway was prepared to use this “fake” doctorate for personal advancement.
The ball is now totally in the hands of PM Mitchell to make a determination as to whether his junior minister should still be holding public office in this country since knowingly accepting this kind of “fake” degree is sending a bad signal to the student population in Grenada that they do not need to work hard at school anymore to fill their homes with trophies and treasures.
THE NEW TODAY is also aware of a number of persons parading in Grenada with “quack” doctorates especially a few who were attached to the island’s premier tertiary institution, T.A Marryshow Community College (TAMCC).
The powers-that-be have failed us in not calling on these persons with “fake” doctorates to prove the authenticity of their degrees.
The current Prime Minister as the holder of a doctorate should know that anyone with a real doctorate has to defend his/her thesis before a panel from a recognised university.
The “quacks” who have been parading up and down this country with “false” doctorates have been given total freedom to continue to masquerade with their so-called doctorates and in some cases being paid high salaries at the expense of our taxpayers.
The Prime Minister should also pay particular attention to the unfortunate situation in so many of our schools that have started the new school year at the beginning of September without their full allotment of teachers.
The Ministry of Education under Emmalin Pierre’s leadership has once again failed us.
The ministry had three months during the long summer vacation to address the issue and to make sure that teachers were identified to fill all those vacancies in our schools that usually come about during the close of one school year and the opening of another one.
Some of the principals have been forced to abandon their office work and take to the classroom to teach students in order to avoid them having nothing to do for weeks due to the shortages of teachers in many schools.
The current Minister of Education has been on the job for a long time now and should be fully aware that an interview and selection process ought to take place during the summer vacation to find new teachers to replace those who did exit at this time of the year.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) should also have knowledge or idea of the vacancies that needed to be filled as a matter of urgency in our school system.
Prime Minister Mitchell has got it right when he said that the system has broken down. However, the issue is what has he done as leader of this country for over 20 years to fix the problem?