Uganda's Makerere University investigates degree cheats

One of Africa's most prestigious universities is investigating how 300 students managed to get their degree results changed.

Uganda's Makerere University discovered that the students' marks had been tampered with in 2015.

It is thought that some people responsible for managing the results system were behind the changes, Vice-Chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe said.

They are being investigated and the students' degrees have been withheld.

The BBC's Patience Atuhaire in the capital, Kampala, says that the university-wide investigation will compare questionable degrees with students' result papers and exam results submitted by lecturers and colleges to their deans, going back to 2011. It will also look at the academic registrar's records.

Two years ago, 600 students from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences were removed from the graduation list, after a whistle-blower pointed out that their marks were lower than the pass mark for their courses.

The university, in Kampala, is one of the most well known on the continent and has 40,000 students, many from outside the country.

Among its graduates are a number of current and former heads of state including Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere, and Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

But Professor Nawangwe told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that the attempted cheating would not damage the university's integrity as "we were able to arrest the situation before anyone was able to get our academic papers".

He said that the staff suspected of being involved have been suspended and security measures are now in place to "make it extremely difficult for anyone to do that kind of thing again".

Ooni Declares Ex Wife Free To Remarry

Olori Wuraola former wife of the Ooni of Ife, can now remarry if she wishes as the customary bride price paid by the Ooni has been returned fully to him by the elders of her family in Benin City, Nigeria.

According to BossNewspapers, a source in Benin said the Ooni was initially reluctant to collect the bride price, but was persuaded by the Elders as a way of closing the controversial marriage and separation.

“She’s free now, she’s free…,” the Ooni was quoted to have exclaimed afterwards.

The Elders had sued for amicable settlement instead of a rough separation. Both families appeared relieved about this final foreclosure of the marriage that lasted less than two years.

It will be recalled that earlier in August, news went viral about the break of the marriage between the revered kingdoms of Ife and Benin, where the paramount ruler of Ife Kingdom, and first among the list of Yoruba Obas, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi took Queen Zynab to wife.

The marriage which was contracted in March 2016 in elaborate ceremonies held in Benin and Ife hit the rocks over alleged infidelity.

According to a Yoruba source, it was imperative that the bride price be returned even as it is just a token, adding that it holds significant value and meaningful according to tradition.

“When a bride price is returned, the man no longer have ties or right over the woman in question, and they can only see themselves afterwards as friends if they so desire,” the Yoruba source said.