Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) has cleared Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi to defend his seat in the August Gener Election amid claims he has fake academic papers.
On Monday, May 30, IEBC officer Mildren Wachie said the lawmaker had met all the requirements to run for office.
The Kapseret returning officer further revealed that the vocal legislator did not attend the clearance exercise physically but sent a representative since he is allegedly out of the country.
“He was not here in person. He wrote a letter signed by his lawyer that he is outside the country. And according to the law, you can send a representative, we checked all his documents according to the law, and verified and confirmed that they are correct before we cleared him. Accordingly, he is now a candidate and he can start the campaign,” said Wachie.
The outspoken lawmaker who is a close ally of the Kenya Kwanza alliance presidential flag bearer William Ruto is among leaders battling court cases involving forgery of academic papers.
Recently former Highway Secondary School principal Patrick Maritim testified in court that Sudi was in the class that wrote the Kenya Certificate of Education (KCSE) in 2006.
“I can confirm that I went through the records of admission from the year he said he was at the school and that the name of Oscar Kipchumba Sudi was not appearing anywhere. Even the index number on the KCSE certificate belonged to another student,” said Maritim.
At the same time, the former head of examinations at the Kenya Institute of Management John Mateshe told an anti-corruption court that the diploma certificate held by Sudi was forged.
But speaking last year, Sudi dismissed the possibility of him being locked out of the 2022 election because of the ongoing case.
“The people saying Sudi is not going to be on the ballot next year, I want to assure you I will be on the ballot. I will prove you guys wrong,” Sudi said last year.
