Petitioner Moves to High Court to Block Senator Sakaja from Nairobi Governor Race
A petitioner has moved to the High Court seeking to have Senator Johnson Sakaja disqualified from the Nairobi gubernatorial race for lack of requisite academic qualifications.
Dennis Wahome wants the court to issue conservatory orders barring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from printing the ballot papers for Nairobi County Governor position until the case is heard and determined.
Wahome had filed a similar petitioner before the IEBC Disputes Resolution Committee but the tribunal dismissed the complaint, saying that it lacks jurisdiction to determine the validity of Sakaja's degree certificate.
In his petition, Wahome argued that Sakaja's Bachelor of Science in Management degree from Team University in Uganda is not genuine as he never graduated from the institution in 2016 as he claims.
"Sakaja cannot be cleared to view based on a forged degree certificate and is therefore liable for criminal Prosecution for forgery and fraudulent misrepresentation," Wahome submitted.
He added that only six students graduated with a Bachelor's degree in science in management on October 21st, 2016, and Sakaja was not among the graduands.
“By finding that the 3rd respondent was not obliged to conduct an enquiry so as to ascertain the authenticity of the 4th respondent degree, the 2nd respondent enabled the 1st and 3rd respondent to conduct the nominations of the 4th respondent in a manner that fell below the threshold for the conduct of the elections set out in Article 81 of the constitution,” Wahome says in court papers.
He argues that if his petition is not heard and determined with urgency, then Sakaja will be on the ballot in violation of the constitution.
“The impugned decision is fundamentally flawed in light of the fact that the 4th Respondent does not possess a university degree as required by section 22 (2) of the Elections Act, hence is a legally and constitutionally unqualified person,” reads the petition.