National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula shut down a section of members of parliament during the vetting of Public Service Cabinet Secretary nominee Aisha Jumwa as her academic qualifications took centre stage.
While appearing before the panel on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 18, Jumwa presented her Degree in Executive Master of Leadership and Governance she earned from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in 2015.
National Assembly Leader of Minority Opiyo Wandayi and other panelist, then raised doubts over the certificate with some claiming that it was an honorary certificate awarded to leaders over their achievements.
So charged was Wandayi that he invited a clarification statement from JKUAT, who issued the certificate.
"I have just been able to lay my hand on the copy of the degree certificate that was tendered by Aisha Jumwa. In fact, this must be clarified even by the university perhaps, whether this is a mere certificate, course or executive master of leadership and governance," questioned the Leader of Minority.
Wetangula, who chairs the committee, however, stepped in to put a stop to the debate explaining that a Degree certificate is not part of the requirements for one to serve as a Cabinet Secretary.
"This is not the foundation on which she has been nominated for this position. If it turns out not to be a genuine degree, it is neither here nor there. We leave it to the agencies that handles matters of this nature.
"The very most we can do is ask the quality assurance agency in education to tell us what it is. There is no requirement to have a degree to be nominated to be a Cabinet Minister," he explained.
He further noted that in case the Degree was not genuine, it was beyond the panel to verify and invited academic quality assurance agencies to step in.
"If the honourable Aisha brings degrees that are not degrees, the consequences are known," Wetangula added.
Later, a debate ensued over how she enrolled for a degree after scoring a D-(minus) in her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
In her defence, Jumwa recounted her struggles to attend school and escaping early marriage. She noted that she dropped out of high school and sat for the final examinations as a private candidate.
"It wasn't easy for me to score those marks because I had to take myself to class after dropping in Form 2 and struggling as a private candidate. I took it as a challenge in trying to be better and to serve the community better.
"The person who nominated me to this position did his due diligence and saw that I am fit if approved by Parliament. I represent many who look up to Aisha Jumwa as a role model. You can get a D(plain) or D-(Minus) and get to the Cabinet. We are talking of the real hustler," she noted.
The Kenyan Constitution does not narrow down academic and technical qualification a CS nominee should possess before appointment.
Katiba Institute, on the other hand, observed that the vetting to relate the candidate’s experience to the Ministry concerned, in a general way.
"It clearly lacks capacity to consider technical competence in detail. But our MPs are mostly thrown out each election (this time 62%), so committees may not even be formed.
"Anyway, parliamentarians do not seem very focused on developing the sort of expertise that would enable them to inquire seriously into a CS nominee’s technical ability," reads a statement by Jill Cottrel Ghai and Yash Pal Ghai written for the Katiba Institute.
