Besieged Nairobi Senator Johnson Arthur Sakaja has come under intense fire from various quarters across the country regarding whether he earned an undergraduate degree from a credible university.
Four people have filed complaints with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) disputes committee, seeking to have the Senator, currently vying for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat, removed from the list of eligible candidates.
The complainants claim Sakaja lacks the requisite qualifications to run for office and that he lacks a university degree.
Responding to the allegations raised with the electoral body by the complaints, the Senator has maintained he has a valid degree certificate from Team University in Uganda, which he attained in 2016.
The complaints allege the Senator’s real names are Johnson Koskei Sakaja, implying he was favored in the nomination process because he belongs to the same tribe as Kenya Kwanza and UDA Presidential candidate William Ruto.
Sakaja has denied the allegation and stated the names used in the petitions are not his.
In a replying affidavit to the objections, the Senator says he graduated from the Ugandan University on October 16, 2016.
Netizens have dug deeper into the said University’s graduation book for the year that the Senator claims to have graduated, but interestingly, Sakaja’s name was found missing.
In response, Sakaja said the petitioners omitted the page bearing his name in the 2016 graduation booklet.
“Complainants’ wild allegations to the effect that l did not graduate from Team University are factually hollow and unfounded. For nefarious goals, the complainants have fraudulently omitted relevant pages in the graduation booklet that bear my graduation credentials,” Sakaja stated in a replying affidavit filed to the IEBC committee.
Furthermore, Sakaja says his name is Sakaja Johnson Arthur and not Sakaja Koskei Johnson, as some people claim. On Monday, the name Sakaja Koskei Johnson was trending on social media, with some people claiming those was the Senator’s real name.
“I have never been known, identified, or addressed by the name Sakaja Koskei Johnson in any manner,” the Senator said. “The person referred to in the suit is not myself by any means or imaginary stretch. However, the person cited as Sakaja Koskei Johnson in the suit is a complete stranger to the election for the position of Governor Nairobi City County general elections on August 9, 2022.”
The Nairobi Senator also asserts that his qualifications and academic papers are not in doubt, having been affirmed through a legal process. He says he has been cleared lawfully by the county returning officer.
On June 7, the IEBC approved Sakaja’s candidacy for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat, despite extensive reports that he lacked a university degree, a requirement for gubernatorial candidates.
In the past, Sakaja claimed to have graduated from the University of Nairobi, but the University distanced itself and said he never graduated from the institution.
Sakaja attended the University of Nairobi, but he never graduated.
“It is true Sakaja was admitted to the university and was pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science, studied from the first year up to the fourth year, but is yet to graduate,” John Orindi, the University’s communications director, told the press.
Besides, the University has told the Directorate of Criminal Investigations that Sakaja’s transcripts are incomplete and have not been signed.
A few days after his clearance by IEBC, other reports indicated that the Nairobi Senator presented a degree certificate from a Ugandan University for IEBC approval.
However, on Monday, in the latest spin to the degree dilemma, Sakaja asked the IEBC tribunal to dismiss the complaint filed against him over his academic certificates.
He told the electoral body that he holds a Bachelor of Science in Management degree from Team University in Uganda.
He stated that the Republic of Uganda duly recognizes Team University.
Dennis Gakuu Wahome, one of the four complainants disputing Sakaja’s candidacy, said that the degree certificate that the Senator presented to the IEBC, allegedly acquired from Team University, was printed on Sunday, May 29 this year, at 10, Wahome said in his supporting affidavit.
“An information technology (IT) forensic investigation can confirm this,” Wahome said.
Furthermore, Wahome told IEBC’s Disputes Resolution Committee that the University stopped offering the degree course in 2015, a year before Sakaja’s alleged graduation.
Sakaja’s opponent Polycap Igathe, the Jubilee Party gubernatorial candidate for Nairobi, posted his university graduation photos and threw shade on the Kenya Kwanza candidate.
Igathe is backed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Azimio la Umoja flagbearer Raila Odinga, while Sakaja has Deputy President William Ruto’s backing.
Some politicians have weighed in on Sakaja’s crisis, with others mocking his intelligence and others sympathizing with him. Babu Owino, for example, claimed that when Raila Odinga becomes the president, Sakaja will be taken back to school on Monday.
“Why are they so desperate to stop Sakaja? Who said we must all go to top universities to run for office as Governor?” Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdulahi posed.
Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga said Sakaja’s woes are a political witch hunt, which will pass.
“Don’t be cheated. Sakaja’s degree issue is a political witch-hunt by the deep state to deflate his momentum after they realize he will pulverize Igathe’s scorched earth policy. He will triumph,” Senator Omanga said.
Ordinary Kenyans have also picked a bite with Sakaja’s apparent confusion.
“Nairobi is so cold. Temperatures ni Sakaja…Zero degrees,” some netizens joked on social media sites.
The IEBC Disputes Resolution Committee will begin hearings on Tuesday, June 14.
Kenya’s general election is scheduled for August 9, 2o22.