Delays In Fighting Fake Degrees Are Unacceptable

A number of queries concerning Law No. 78/2019 regarding fake academic certificates have been forwarded to Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Adel Al-Manea by MP Hamad Al-Elyan. In spite of the fact that more than four years have passed since the law was ratified and published in Kuwait Gazette, the executive regulations have yet to be issued. According to him, the law prohibits the accreditation of non-equivalent certificates, so it is a means of addressing the fake academic certificates issue. If the law is suspended, what negative effects will it have on the labor market, and how steps are being taken to force the law's executive regulations to be issued.

Minister of Justice and State Minister for Housing Affairs Faleh Al-Raqaba was asked by MP Hassan Jawhar when the executive regulations for Law No. 118/2023 on housing and the establishment of new residential areas are expected to be published. According to him, the law was published in Kuwait Gazette on August 27, 2023, and Article 39 stipulates that executive regulations should be drafted within three months of its publication. The Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) was asked if it had specified the locations for new residential areas as per law, details about those places, and a target completion date.

The deadline

Jawhar also asked if the Higher Election Commission was formed in accordance with Article Two of Law 120/2023, indicating that the law specifies the deadline for the issuance of the executive - within six months after the official publication. The law was published more than three months ago, and in Article Two, the minister is mandated to form a board consisting of five Kuwaiti judges from the Court of Appeals or the Court of Cassation. According to Article 66 of the law, the Higher Election Commission must issue executive regulations within six months after the official publication of the law.

As a prelude to the enforcement of Article 66, which mandates the commission to issue executive regulations, he wants to know if the board was formed as per Article Two. The election law is essential for implementing political reforms and for conducting fair elections, he said. MP Shuaib Shaaban asked Al-Raqaba about the criteria for appointing senior officials at Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), conditions for the renewal of their term, entity tasked to assess their performance, procedures followed for the appointment of the secretary-general and assistant secretary general at the authority, copies of decisions regarding their appointment issued in fiscal 2022/2023, if the Board of Trustees approved their appointment as per the law, rationale behind the decision of the chairman of Nazaha to change the conditions for appointing senior officials and cancelled the condition of ensuring the efficiency of nominated officials, and results of the interview of nominated officials in fiscal 2022/2023. He cited the final court ruling to cancel the decision of an assistant secretary general to appoint an official, steps taken regarding the court decision, if the official in question was reappointed in violation of the court decision, if the State Audit Bureau (SAB) requested a refund of salaries paid to the official whose appointment decision was canceled, and why the chairman's office allows expatriate officials access to confidential information about corruption issues.

Shaaban asked about the current housing projects, a list of contractors who are concerned, the amount of fines imposed on contractors since 2000 for delays in the implementation of projects, and the number and amount of variations ordered for each project. He asked Minister of Health Ahmed Al-Awadhi about the allegation that an expatriate employee embezzled a total of KD15 million from the overseas treatment budget by manipulating the receipts of hotels booked for Kuwaiti patients in Europe, how and when the crime was discovered, date of referring the case to the Public Prosecution, how long the accused official embezzled public funds through the submission of fake receipts, method that the accused official used to embezzle public funds, and procedures adopted to verify the receipts.

The lawmaker asked the Minister of Social Affairs and State Minister for Family, Women and Children Affairs Sheikh Feras Al-Sabah to provide him with the list of public profit organizations, societies and charities that obtained licenses from the ministry; members of the board of directors in each entity; number of cooperative societies and date of the most recent General Assembly of each cooperative. He asked Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Adel Al-Manea to provide him with the list of Kuwaiti cultural attaché offices; number of employees in each office; nationalities, qualifications and experience of these employees; recruitment method; and copies of job advertisements for employees in each overseas cultural attaché office since 2018 till date. The Minister of Finance was requested to provide copies of SAB budget allocations since 2014 along with any comments from the Ministry of Finance regarding such budgets.

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