Politician Nazlin Umar Rajput in May 2022 filed a petition restraining IEBC from demanding a degree certificate from anyone seeking to vie for the presidency.
Nazlin, a presidential aspirant in the 2022 General Election was not cleared to contest alongside Raila Odinga and President William Ruto because she did not have a degree.
Rajput in her submission, Nazlin pleaded that based on the decision in Petition No. 28 of 2020 consolidated with others; the education qualifications for the presidential aspirant are the same as those of a Member of Parliament.
However, the High Court has revoked the degree requirement for presidential aspirants.
Justice Anthony Mrima termed Section 22(2) of the Elections Act which demands that one must have a degree certificate before vying for president as unconstitutional.
He said it was wrong to allow those vying for parliamentary seats not to have degree certificates but lock out those seeking to be president to have the same document.
The court said Section 22(2) of the Elections Act is unconstitutional for mandatorily demanding that a presidential aspirant must possess a university degree as long as the decision to waive the requirement for MPs stands.
“If the decision in Wambui & 10 Others v Speaker of the National Assembly & 6 others case continues to hold and a provision requiring Members of Parliament to possess university degrees is enacted within the confines of the Constitution and the law, then, and until then, Section 22(2) of the Elections Act as relating to the presidential qualifications will be in line with Article 137(1)(b) of the Constitution.
However, before then, Section 22(2) of the Elections cannot stand in so far as the eligibility criterion for a presidential candidate is concerned,” Justice Mrima ruled.
