Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja’s controversial degree has generated a lot of debate on whether elective positions should be pecked on academic qualification.
According to the Constitution any person intending to contest for the positions of President, Deputy President, Governor, and Deputy Governor must possess a degree from a recognized university in Kenya.
The requirement has seen politicians go the extra mile including but not limited to forging academic credentials just to meet the Constitution threshold.
On Wednesday, June 15, award-winning singer Wahu Kagwi wedded into the discussion arguing that people should not use a degree paper to gauge someone’s leadership abilities.
Wahu wondered why a degree requirement has become so big yet the country has allowed people faced with corruption cases to contest elective positions.
“We’re out here making it a big deal whether or not a politician went to uni or not as a qualification to run for office, yet so many of those who are vying have known corruption cases.
“We need to reprioritize! A university degree is not proof of leadership acumen. This is a very old school mentality.” Wahu said in a Facebook post.
Wahu who is the wife of Nameless another popular musician opined that Kenya has very many people with great leadership skills even though they dropped out of school.
“We have so many smart people with great leadership skills that have even dropped out of primary school for one reason or the other. Who are we to judge their reasons?” Wahu posed.
Wahu who herself has a master’s degree suggests that honesty, integrity, diligence, and a track record of good leadership should be the yardstick for electing leaders.
Sentiments by the Juju hitmaker mirror those of the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) Chief Executive Officer, Ezekiel Mutua who argued that Sakaja is a brilliant politician regardless of whether he holds a degree or not.
“He (Sakaja) is a man of his intellectual depth, rigor, and eloquence of speech, a guy who has pulled himself by his bootstraps to rise from the abyss to get to the top, to epitomize the best of our youth, shouldn’t be subject to this useless (degree) debate,” Mutua said
