Johnson Sakaja responds, cites mischief in degree row

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja addressing media at the DCI Headquarters in Kiambu. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja has this evening responded to the statement by the Commission for University Education (CUE) over his degree credentials.

The Senator, reading “mischief and political interference” in the matter asked why the Commission was only haunting him and not all other political aspirants.

“We are being persecuted. This is highly political and is coming from the highest office in Kenya,” Sakaja claimed.

Sakaja is now claiming that the commissions’ members met with senior government officials at Jogoo house before asking him to provide documents to ascertain his degree certificate.

The UDA candidate for Nairobi governor has said that CUE went about the wrong way revoking his degree before investigating the claims that it was fraudulent.

He said that while the principle was that any accused person was innocent until proven guilty, the CUE had already condemned him by revoking his degree.

"You cannot revoke and then investigate. You investigate and then revoke," Sakaja said. 

Sakaja is also required to appear before the Commission on Monday, June 20 at 10.00 am to aid in investigations. 

He says that he has already presented all the documents that CUE asked of him, including his certificate of degree and transcripts.

“I formally applied to CUE on June 6, 2022, to confirm my degree. They requested me to provide all the necessary information, which I did,” he said.

He added that CUE in its statement earlier on Friday admitted that he had met all the requirements of the law, but understands the pressure they are under.

The Senator had earlier Friday presented himself at the DCI headquarters in Kiambu.

But police in a statement would later dismiss reports of Sakaja’s arrest, saying he had not been summoned. He was turned away.