Deputy President, William Ruto, has dared former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, to prove the authenticity of his academic papers.
Speaking at a rally in Kisii county on Thursday, June 16, Ruto claimed that no one could authenticate the degree certificate of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party presidential candidate.
He dared the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) boss to make public details of his academic papers, teachers, and classmates who studied with him.
"If there is anybody who has questionable papers is the Azimio presidential candidate. Before you tell us stories, let Raila tell us where he studied.
"Let him tell us who his classmates were and who taught him. You cannot fail to answer these questions and tell us that he has a degree. Which degree?" Raila wondered.
Further, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate alleged that his competitor could not be questioned over his degree as Nairobi Senator, Johnson Sakaja, because of the support he enjoys from the deep state.
He maintained that Sakaja's papers were legit stating that calls were made to State House, Uganda to have the Senator's papers from Team University revoked.
"Leave Johnson Sakaja alone. Sakaja is learned and his academic credentials are known. Stop twisting issues regarding his degree. The deep state has been making calls everywhere including State House, Uganda.
"They are coming up with a plan to ensure that Sakaja is not on the ballot for the Nairobi gubernatorial race," added Ruto.
However, while speaking at an interview on NTV on June 15, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) CEO, Marjan Hussein Marjan, stated that Raila's papers were authentic.
He stated that the Azimio presidential candidate would not have been cleared if he did not have the required academic papers.
“By the time he was clearing him (Raila Odinga) he had certified himself that the candidate met all the legal requirements. To that extent I would say that Hon Raila Odinga actually met the requirements,” he stated.
In April 2020 through a notice, the Registrar of the Engineers Board of Kenya gazetted Raila as one of the 1,786 engineers allowed to practice in the country.
