By Mujidu Victor,
A complaint has been lodged at the electoral tribunal seeking the Nairobi UDA gubernatorial candidate Johnson Sakaja’s clearance to be terminated. Sakaja is allegedly accused of missing out on the required documents for one to vie for the governor’s seat.
However, the documents filed at Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Dispute Resolution committee by Evans Kaita want Sakaja to be disqualified from the forthcoming elections because of a lack of requisite education.
The applicant argues that Sakaja does not meet the mandatory constitution qualifications for elections as a county governor as per Article 193(1)(b) of the constitution.
“The aforesaid candidate (Sakaja) does not possess a valid degree from a university recognized in Kenya as is enslaved in section 22(1)of the Election Act,” Kaita states in papers.
The documents filed by the complainant illustrated how Mr. Sakaja did not satisfy the requirements needed as per the law. It was also unclear how the senator acquired a degree in Bachelor of Science in Management from upcounty, while at the same time serving as a full member of Parliament.
The petitioner further questions the circumstances under which the purported degree was accredited to Sakaja shortly before the submission of his papers to IEBC.
“Wherefore the complainant prays that it be determined that the said Johnson Arthur Sakaja does not meet the statutory and mandatory qualifications for elections as the county governor candidate. We, therefore, recall for IEBC to revoke the certificate of Mr. Sakaja since it does not give limelight on how it was acquired,” Kaita says.
The disputed degree of Science in Management is allegedly acquired from Team University in Uganda dated October 21, 2016.However, Sakaja on June 7, when IEBC cleared him to contest for the Nairobi governor seat, disputed reports that he forged his degree certificate raised to uncontrolled measures.
Meanwhile, after proper scrutinization of the documents, IEBC noted that the same papers were the ones he submitted during the 2017 General Election when seeking the Nairobi Senatorial seat.
