Sakaja’s degree controversy means Ruto may not field a gubernatorial candidate in Nairobi

The controversy surrounding Johnson Sakaja’s degree might prove to be costly to the Kenya Kwanza alliance presidential flag bearer William Ruto.

According to statistics, Nairobi County is the richest among the 47 counties and every presidential candidate will cherish to have control over the capital through a governor sponsored by his party.

Kenya Kwanza alliance settled on Johnson Sakaja as their gubernatorial candidate for the top city seat.

But revelations that the Senator, a close ally of the deputy president used fake academic papers to seek clearance from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) might see him locked out of the gubernatorial race.

A petition has since been filed asking the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to bar the senator from the gubernatorial race.

In 2017, Sakaja indicated that he graduated from UoN, in 2020 he said he has never pursued education outside the country, now 2022 he says he graduated from Team University of Uganda but there is no record to support it.#Kivumbi2022https://t.co/qYyhtxfMCO

— KIVUMBI.co.ke (@kivumbi254) June 12, 2022

Dennis Gakuu Wahome, who is a voter in Nairobi wants the senator barred from contesting for failing to meet the requirement that a gubernatorial aspirant must have a degree.

In a case filed at the IEBC Disputes Resolutions Committee, Wahome said the senator, while filling the nomination Jubilee form in 2017, wrote that he graduated from the University of Nairobi.

“The respondent has demonstrated fraud and forgeries that have the potential to erode the public confidence in and diminish the integrity of qualifications in Uganda and Kenyan degrees both regionally as well as globally,” said Wahome in his affidavit.

On Monday, June 6, Sakaja was cleared by IEBC after he presented papers from Team University an Uganda institution which indicated that he graduated in 2016.

Johnson Sakaja’s degree: His name is not in the graduation booklet

Commission for University Education says the aspiring governor presented a degree from a Ugandan university, the Ugandan university said Sakaja "attended the programme online"https://t.co/wrHTpFcXtA pic.twitter.com/5Gy3lU4zqP

— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) June 12, 2022

However, new information indicates that the senator’s name is missing from a booklet for graduates for that particular year.

To add more controversy, Sakaja himself 2020 claimed that he has never pursued education outside the country.

If the IEBC Disputes Resolutions Committee agrees with the petitioner, then DP Ruto will be left with no gubernatorial candidate in Nairobi.

Currently, Sakaja is battling it out with Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition party candidate Polycarp Igathe.