A number of Kenyan politicians have been accused of falsifying their academic credentials inorder to run for certain political seats. From Ferdinand Waititu to former Wajir governor H.E Amb. Mohamed Abdi, and the list seems to go on and on.
WoK has listed politicians whose academic credentials have been questioned.
Oscar Sudi
Oscar Sudi is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Kapseret Constituency. He claimed to have attended Highway Secondary School before proceeding to Kenya Institute of Management for a diploma in Business Management. However, reports emerged that both his high school and college certificates were fake.
The former principal of Highway, Patrick Maritim, said the legislator did not sit for the exams in the school and what he gave as the index number belonged to another student.
“I also went through the records of students who sat their KCSE in 2006 and had collected their school leaving certificates but could not find his name,” said Maritim.
It was also stated that the code he gave belonged to Parklands and not Highway.
Ali Hassan Joho
Governor Ali Hassan Joho faced probe after he was accused of forging documents to enroll for a parallel degree program at the University of Nairobi. The High Court barred the police from arresting and charging him over allegations that he had forged his credentials.
In his defence, the governor said he sat for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) at Tom Mboya Primary School in 1988. He then stayed at home for one year before joining Serani Secondary School. This is because his parents were unable to afford school fees and he had to do several menial jobs. He then got a D- (minus ). In (25th May 2017) affidavit, he said he enrolled for a pre-university course at Kampala University. It was here that he got a certificate in Business Administration followed by a diploma in Human Resource Management.
After touting himself as an Actuarial Science graduate from the UoN, the University said he was not their graduate. While he had enrolled at the school as an Actuarial Science undergraduate, he was yet to complete his academics instead, Sakaja said he graduated from Uganda’s Team University.
Granton Samboja
Granton was accused by the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission for having presented fake academic papers. The reports of his questionable academics were fuelled when Kenyatta University issued a statement saying the governor was not their student. He had said that he was a student at the University.
“This is to inform you that there are no records in the university to indicate that Granton Samboja of ID number 1254***1 was a student of Kenyatta University and graduated with a Bachelors degree in 2009,” said the KU vice chancellor.
However, the case was dismissed by the court. A petition was filed on 10th June this year with the petitioner arguing he was ineligible to participate in the coming elections because of his academic papers. He said his clearance by IEBC offends chapter 6 of the constitution and statutory provisions of integrity.
Mithika Linturi
A voter filed a petition seeking to force the police and EACC to arrest Mithika over alleged fake university papers and forging of a KCSE certificate. The petitioner said he forged academic papers from former Marathadwa University in India. The University currently operates under the name Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. The agency stated that at the time he claims to have graduated the university’s name was not Marathwada but had already been changed to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. The Kenya National Examination Council also declared that he got a C minus and not a B- as he had stated.
In May 2018, the senator got court orders preventing the EACC from prosecuting, arresting or declaring him unfit to hold public office over the alleged faked certificates. Following the probe by EACC, he had been removed from UoN graduation list soon after he was set to get his Bachelor of Law degree.
Agnes Kavindu
The senator was taken to court over questionable education certificates. The petitioner who questioned IEBC’s decision to clear her said she did not attain any post secondary education. Wilson Musyoka, the petitioner, also alleged that he had information that she had not gone past primary school.
Cleophas is running for the Kakamega gubernatorial seat on an ANC party ticket. The validity of his academic certificates have been questioned. In a Nyota TV interview, he said that he started his degree in 2006-2007 and finished it in 2010-2011. He rubbished claims that he had failed exams and said after KCPE, he was the third in Bungoma Municipality. He was called to Sunshine but got expelled in form two. He then joined Friends School Kamusinga in 2002.
The politician also said that at first he was enrolled at Moi University for a law degree. He left since his father did not like the company he kept.
