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Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chair Wafula Chebukati has dismissed the revocation of Senator Johnson Sakaja’s degree by the Commission of University Education (CUE).

Chebukati stated that Sakaja will be on the ballot on August 9 as the petition challenging his clearance was resolved by the IEBC Dispute Resolution tribunal.

In a letter to CUE on Friday, July 1, Chebukati indicated the only way it can reverse the decision is through a court order setting aside the decision of the Dispute Resolution Committee that had withheld Sakaja’s clearance.

According to Chebukati, the revocation of Sakaja’s degree had been overtaken by events that won’t affect the preparation for the Nairobi gubernatorial election.

“The totality of the foregoing is that the commission acted within the law and is now functus officio as far as the authenticity of the impugned degree certificate is concerned,” Chebukati said in a letter addressed to CUE.

Earlier, the High Court, through Judge Antony Mrima, declined to issue orders allowing the striking off of Sakaja’s name from the ballot.

“Given that steps that have already been taken for an expedited hearing for this matter, hence the court shall not issue the order at this point,” Judge Murima ruled.

On June 19, the IEBC tribunal dismissed a petition challenging the validity of Sakaja’s degree certificate.
In its ruling, the tribunal said it lacked jurisdiction to ascertain the authenticity of the senator’s Bachelor of Science in Management degree from Uganda’s Team University.

On June 29, in a letter to the IEBC, CUE said their investigations had revealed that Uganda’s National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) had not authorized the said university to offer the Bachelor of Science in Management (External), which Sakaja claims he attained the institution.

“Failure to submit even the most basic evidence of study and the process of earning a degree inevitably renders the degree certificate submitted insufficient to prove that Sakaja studied either physically or through distance learning and that he holds an academic degree,” CUE said.