By Prudence Minayo
Professor George Wajackoyah made headlines on Saturday 12th February 2022 after he announced his presidential bid. His pledges once he becomes president caught the attention of millions of Kenyans and sparked mixed reactions on social media platforms.
He promised to create eight prime minister positions in his government, personally serve as immigration minister, change the working days from Monday to Thursday, suspend the constitution for six months and legalize bhang and sell it to clear Kenya’s loans to Chinese. After which, he would sever ties with China. The country currently owes China debts of more than Sh8 trillion.
“Friday being a Muslim day, would not be counted as a workday, and that Saturday and Sunday would also form part of non working days,” he said.
His controversial manifesto had attracted more than 2,000 retweets and 5,000 likes twenty hours after it was posted.
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Background and Education
Professor George Wajackoyah was born in Matungu constituency in the Western part of Kenya. When he was 16 years old, his parents went their separate ways and left him on his own devices. Determined to find his mother later on, he traveled to Busia where he hoped to get to Uganda since he heard that was where his mother resided.
This dream would not come into fruition as he met several hurdles along the way. Finally, he met a man of Somali descent who took him to Nairobi with the intention of taking him to Mandera to work as a herds boy. Unfortunately, the man was run over by a vehicle.
This incident meant he had nowhere to go, forcing him to become a street boy in the streets of Nairobi. A well wisher came by and he was able to join school.
The late former Cabinet Minister for Education JJ Kamotho would later help pay for his fees at St. Peters Mumias Boys High School where he sat for his A levels. Unfortunately, his grades could not secure him entry into university.
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Joining the Police service
Kamotho would then convince him to join the police service which he did and became a spy. He was part of the team that investigated the death of Robert Ouko – former Minister of Foreign Affairs. In an interview with a local publication, he said he must have stepped on some toes in the course of the investigation. He was arrested, beaten and detained before being rescued and finding asylum in the United Kingdom.
Qualifications
The 61-year-old holds an LLB (Hons) from the University of WolverHampton (UK), CCL/LLM), School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, LLM University of Warwick (UK), LLM University of Baltimore, and Advanced Diploma in French from the University of Burundi.
Life Abroad
In the UK, he chose to continue with his studies. To pay his way through school, he dug graves.
Professor George Wajackoyah then moved to the United States where he taught Law and Economics, Human Rights, Comparative Constitutional, and International Law.
