Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja on Monday told the court that a petition aimed at blocking his gubernatorial candidature in next month’s polls has no legal basis.
In his response to a case filed by Dennis Gakuu Wahome, Sakaja insists the petition is not supported by any credible evidence and as such does not warrant the court’s intervention.
The UDA candidate has termed the application to stop him from vying ‘a mere and empty recital premised on conjecture, speculation and guesswork.’
“I submit that neither in the IEBC Dispute Resolution Committee, nor in these proceedings has the Petitioner placed any iota of evidence on which he seeks to declare my nomination to vie for the position of Governor, Nairobi City County as irregular null and void on account of lack of academic qualifications.” He told the court in Milimani
And for the umpteenth time, Sakaja insists that the issue of eligibility to vie for the position is never in doubt and that the matter is a making of his political competitors who are only keen on barring him from contesting.
The Nairobi Senator further told the court that the gist of the Petitioner’s suits challenging the validity of his academic qualifications are not only aimed at stopping his candidature but deliberately calculated to subject him to public humiliation and embarrassment.
He described Wahome as a ‘mercenary, proxy and a gun for hire’ by forces driven by malice and political witch-hunt.
“To discern this one needs to interrogate the curious yet telling overzealous nature of the Petitioner’s unexplained easy access to multiple documents including purported immigration records and alleged jubilee Party nomination applications dating 2016.” He said in his submission
Sakaja insists that he got clearance from IEBC to run for office in the general elections, after a green light was issued by institutions of higher learning both in Kenya and Uganda and there should therefore be no question as to the authenticity of his academic credentials.
“On 6th June, 2022 CUE offered institutional accreditation and recognition my degree by confirming the same and accredited Teams University as a recognized institution both in Uganda and in Kenya by Convention,” He said
Even though the Commission on Higher Education has gone on to revoke the recognition of his degree certificate, Sakaja told the court the matter is now under Judicial review and cannot stop him from seeking to be the next Chief Executive Officer for Nairobi County.
In his Petition to stop IEBC from printing ballot papers for the position of county governor of Nairobi, Wahome is adamant that Sakaja is a legally and constitutionally unqualified for the seat.
“That the 4th respondent (Sakaja)’s assertion that he is a graduate of Team University is factually incorrect, baseless and unsupported. The assertion is further contradicted, in a material sense by his own public declarations categorically stating that he has never attended any university outside Kenya,” Wahome told court though lawyer Njoki Mboce.
