Johnson Sakaja is said to have faked his University of Nairobi degree after failing to complete his Actuarial Science course.
The allegation first surfaced sometimes in June 2016 when copies of his transcripts were leaked online.
According to the transcripts, Sakaja did not complete his Actuarial Science degree because he failed in most of his courses and consequently failed to graduate.
The transcripts showed Sakaja successfully completed his first, second and third-year studies, but failed in some courses during his fourth year.
According to how Sakaja failed in most of the units in fourth year, he opted to have retaken some of the subjects he failed. But he didn’t and he graduated, how come?
Responding to the issue of his transcripts, Sakaja maintained that he completed his studies at the UoN in 2003 and indeed graduated.
“That issue was done and dusted, by the time you are getting into some of these things [campaign for governor], you have to make sure that your back is covered,” Sakaja told The Star newspaper.
But it didn’t end there, Sakaja first declared interest to vie for Nairobi governor on a Jubilee ticket in the 2017 general election.
Sakaja faced competition from Mike Sonko and Margaret Wanjiru for the Jubilee ticket. However Wanjiru was locked out of the Nairobi governor race after it emerged she had a degree from an institution that was not legally recognized.
For Sakaja’s case, he was reportedly blackmailed (because of his degree scandal) into stepping down from the governor race in favor of Sonko who won the Jubilee ticket.
Sakaja opted to vie for Nairobi senator seat (which doesn’t require one to be a degree holder) on a Jubilee ticket as Sonko vied for governor.
Sonko was clever, he didn’t have a degree when he vied for senator in 2013 but he had his eyes on the governor seat. He joined Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) and graduated in July 2015 with a degree in Business Administration.
Came 2017, Sonko had all the necessary academic qualifications to contest in the Nairobi gubernatorial race.
For Sakaja, the script is still the same. He is in the same political camp (William Ruto’s camp) with Margaret Wanjiru and they are both seeking to vie for Nairobi governor seat.
The irony is that both Sakaja and Wanjiru have dubious degrees and their is a possibility they could both be disqualified from contesting in the Nairobi gubernatorial race.
The constitution requires that every candidate contesting for the gubernatorial seat to possess a degree in any field from recognized institutions of higher learning.
