Nairobi Senator, Johnson Sakaja, has been handed a lifeline by the High Court after it barred the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from striking him off its list of cleared candidates.
Justice Anthony Mrima, in his ruling, allowed the IEBC to continue with the printing of the ballot papers as the case proceeded.
Sakaja sought High Court orders to stop the IEBC from omitting his name from the list of candidates owing to the controversy surrounding his degree certificate.
"Given that steps have ready been taken for an expedited hearing for this matter, hence the order shall not be issued at this point," the judge ruled.
Whereas Sakaja maintains that he legally acquired his degree from Team University in Uganda, the Commission for University Education (CUE) stated that the degree is not recognised after information on its legitimacy surfaced.
The Commission, on Thursday, June 30, stated that it received written information from the public that implied Sakaja was never admitted to the Kampala-based university.
CUE Chief Executive Officer, Mwenda Ntarangwi, stated that the Commission no longer recognises the Senator's degree.
"That in Sakaja Johnson Arthur's official declaration in 2017, while vying for the position of Senator, he indicated that the only higher education qualification he held was a degree from the University of Nairobi. There was no declaration made pertaining to Team University, from which he now states that he had obtained a degree in 2016."
"The University of Nairobi has since written to the Commission, confirming that whereas he enrolled for a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science in 2003, he did not complete his studies," stated CUE.
"The situation had been caused by a variety of factors which are mainly global. We are very concerned as the Government is doing everything possible to help cushion our people."
The degree saga intensified after Sakaja's alleged classmates from Team University in Uganda denied him.
According to New Vision, a Ugandan publication, a former student who was in the Class of 2016 declined ever seeing Sakaja or hearing about the Senator in the class.
The student claimed that they were only six in their class and the Senator was not one of them.
