While questions remain about PPP/C presidential candidate Irfaan Ali’s first set of academic credentials, he is listed as a graduand for a Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of the West Indies (UWI) and was to have graduated yesterday at the St Augustine Campus in Trinidad.
The University of the West Indies on October 10th released its list of graduands for the academic year 2018/2019 and Ali was listed to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Urban and Regional Planning.
Stabroek News tried contacting Ali yesterday but calls to his mobile stated that his phone was off and messages via text and WhatsApp were not responded to.
The 40-year-old Ali has come under fire since the announcement of his candidacy for president over his academic credentials, as there is still no evidence that the school that provided him with a transcript for entry into an Indian university on a Government of Guyana scholarship was ever accredited here.
In April of this year, after declaring that he had made all his transcripts and certificates public on his Facebook page, Ali has said that he had no further comments on the matter.
“If you go on my Facebook page, I don’t know if it is still there, I shared, as I said, all my certificates. There are many, many certificates …they all have credits for them. What is out there, I stand by and this is all I have to say on the matter,” Ali had told his first press conference since as the party’s presidential candidate.
On Ali’s Facebook page, no photographs or any other material related to his credentials were found by this newspaper.
Stabroek News was shown four certificates by Ali on April 10th after several requests for an interview and had been seeking to independently verify their authenticity.
However, still not clear is how Ali gained entry into a Master’s programme in 2002. There have been allegations that a transcript issued by a school, identified as the Chamber Business School on the West Bank of Demerara, was used for his entry.
Checks by Stabroek News at the National Accreditation Council found no records at that body of the school’s existence but that body was not in existence at the time of Ali’s alleged schooling.
Stabroek News had also visited the West Coast of Demerara but hours of searches and enquiries could find no evidence of the Chamber Business School. None of persons in the homes or business places visited from Vreed-en-Hoop to Tuschen had heard of the school.
Given that the presidency is the highest office in the land, Ali continues to face calls to address the questions about his admission to the programme.
Pressed to answer what was the baseline qualification he had used for admission to the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India, Ali had refused to answer.
