An exposé which called into question the quality of certificates the college awards
through an undercover investigation which shows an unqualified person enrolled into
the institution and an Aeronautical Engineering certificate and transcript bearing
the college’s name, sold for a few thousand shillings.
All of which, Okulubera protested, should not be used to indict the entire
institution as “fake certificates” he said, were a problem that plagued all higher
learning institutons in the country.
“Any staff or member of the public who for unknown reasons goes ahead to acknowledge
that they committed a crime must be held accountable as criminals and not
representatives of NAC.”
“In any case, if a Nation Media Group journalist was to be implicated in a crime, we
don’t think the ownership of NMG would be held responsible,” he defended.
NTV’s investigative reporter Dennis Okari, he claimed, had therefore unfairly
targeted the institution by not only denying them a right of reply, but by acting in
contravention of a court injunction against the airing of the expose until February 4
when the parties are to appear in court.
“The exposé was malicious driven by the competitive environment and without following
the basic tenets of responsible journalism because from the start of the expose, it
was about colleges and universities but the reporter subjectively narrowed down to
Nairobi Aviation College for reasons best known to them,” he charged.
And while he did admit that the college offers aviation courses despite not being a
Kenya Civil Aviation Authority Approved Training Organisation, he insisted that their
operations were legal.
“It’s not something that you wake up one day and you have it. So for them to deny us
is maybe because of the exposé. But what we know is that we are operating legally and
following all the regulations from our regulators: KNEC, KASNEB, ICM, IATA and CILT,”
he listed.
Prior to moving to court, Okulubera further expounded, the institution wrote a
“polite complain” to the Nation Media Group.
And the copy he presented to the media reads in part: “Nation Media Group has enjoyed
a mutual business relationship for a period running into 10 years with Nairobi
Aviation Collage advertising in very strategic page slots and time slots. The Nation
Media Group cannot underestimate the importance of such a business relationship and
should therefore have put into consideration its commercial interests.”
The college is now seeking audience with the Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob
Kaimenyi and has asked its students who protested over the expose on Monday to
“remain calm and return to class” as the court process takes its course.