Kenyans seeking elective seats will have to produce digital academic certificates issued to them by the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) before being cleared to contest by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
KNQA Director General, Dr Juma Mukhwana, disclosed that an online portal had already been created where the leaders would upload their certificates. Here, the certificates would be checked and authenticated.
Mukhwana added that all institutions would be contacted to ensure that the certificates were legit.
“All candidates from the President to MCAs will be required to log in and create their account where they will upload all their academic papers,” Mukhwana stated.
“We shall contact all universities, colleges and any other institutions that have awarded qualifications and do a thorough cross-check to ensure only authentic documents are approved,” he continued.
Once the process was complete, the candidates would be issued with a digital certificate which they would present to the IEBC.
"The elections agency will rely on this to be sure all the documents presented to them are legitimate and were awarded genuinely,” he added.
He concluded by saying that the portal was ready, and the only thing that was needed was a go-ahead from IEBC.
"The system allows all applicants to create their own profile, upload documents and make payment using the online portal. Universities and colleges will also have access to the system to check the status and evaluation results of students that they are processing for admission," reads an excerpt from KNQA website.
KNQA was set up in 2015 with an aim to help coordinate and harmonize education, training, assessment and quality assurance of all qualifications awarded in the country.
The authority's view was to improve quality and international comparability.
