Is it game over? Lawyers explain Sakaja's degree saga, his last option

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja’s bid to contest for the Nairobi Governor seat in the upcoming August 9th General Election is hanging by a thread with only 54 days to the polls.

This is according to legal experts who maintain that the decision by the Commission for University Education (CUE) to revoke recognition of Sakaja’s university degree may be final and binding.

CUE on Wednesday revoked the recognition of Sakaja’sBachelor of Science in Management Degree from Uganda’s Team University, saying it will open a probe into the validity of the papers the Senator presented before the IEBC for clearance to run.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, top lawyers Steve Ogolla and Danstan Omari have dismissed Sakaja’s claim of a political witchhunt in the degree saga, maintaining that the obligation is on Sakaja to prove that indeed the degree he holds is valid.

According to Advocate Steve Ogolla, CUE might have either been misled into earlier clearing Sakaja or there was collusion, which he says will be a subject for determination in the investigations by CUE.

“If new information has been placed in the hands of CUE indicating that Sakaja may have been cleared irregularly it is within CUE's power to revoke the prior recognition of the degree. IEBC does not authenticate degrees… In Sakaja's instance, somebody must have misled CUE. Whether there was collusion between an official at CUE and Sakaja, to have the commission irregularly validate his degree will be the outcome of investigations,” Ogolla told Citizen Digital.

He added: “The Commission for University Education must answer what went wrong in the original verification. Is the new info from Teams university or a third party?”

On his part, lawyer Danstan Omari says the “game is over” for Sakaja and that he should not “waste time” seeking legal redress if indeed he has a valid degree.

“CUE is the only legitimate entity in this country where any foreign university is taken for accreditation, grading and for being accepted as a degree known in this country. It has spoken loud and clear that Sakaja is not qualified or the paper he presented is not a degree for the purpose of the Kenyan market. That is closure and the court cannot overrule the national accredited entity to do that job,” says Omari.

“Sakaja can only challenge the CUE decision if he has a degree. Any foreign degree must be confirmed by CUE and CUE has confirmed that he does not have it. If Sakaja had a degree he would have just presented it and the matter ends. Any legal avenue available for Sakaja is a waste of time,” he adds.

According to Omari, Sakaja has two options; wait for CUE’s final verdict or withdraw from the Governor race and have the party nominate him for another seat.

“Sakaja has two options; wait for the verdict, which cannot be any different or withdraw from the race of governor so that UDA substitutes him with the Senator candidate and have him run for the Senate seat. But for the purpose of election of Nairobi Governor the game is over,” says Omari.

Sakaja has since come out to blame President Uhuru Kenyatta for his political woes.

Lawyer Danstan Omari dismisses Sakaja’s position saying: “The president has no role in the question of presenting an academic degree. If Sakaja had a degree, he would have brought it to Citizen TV. If it is true that he has a degree the president would have no say. My humble advice to Sakaja is to throw in the towel dash very fast and try to get a position in the senatorial race otherwise it cannot be salvaged.”

On Tuesday, UDA Secretary-General Veronica Maina who is also a lawyer addressed Sakaja's degree issue saying the final decision is with the institutions mandated to determine the authenticity of one's credentials.

"As political parties, we receive certification from different institutions and we have institutions that have the capacity to tell us about the degree certificate. The much we can do as to political parties is leave it to the institutions," she said on Citizen TV's Day Break show.

Sakaja had been cleared to vie for the Nairobi Governor seat on a UDA Party ticket on June 7.