Kakamega court dismisses petitions questioning Malala’s academic qualifications
Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala.
A High Court in Kakamega has dismissed two petitions that sought to disqualify Senator Cleophas Malala from vying in the Kakamega governor race over the validity of his academic documents.
Justice Patrick Otieno on Friday July 15 dismissed the petitions by Fred Muka and Franklin Shilingi who had challenged the academic qualifications of Mr Malala.
Mr Muka claimed that Mr Malala’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) was not genuine and asked the court to restrain him from contesting in the August 9 polls.
The petitioner had claimed that Malala’s KCSE document features a different KNEC code from the one issued to Friends School Kamusinga where he sat the exam.
The petitioner further argued that the subjects that were being taught at the school during the same period are different from those on Malala's KCSE certificate.
He further restrained the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from gazetting Mr Malala’s name among the candidates in the next month’s election until the case is determined.
The petitioner claiming that Mr Malala's name was not featuring on the 2011 nor 2019 list of United States International University (USIU) graduands.
He questioned how Mr Malala claimed to have graduated from the university in August 2011 while his degree of Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and Technology was issued in August 2019, eight years after graduation.
The Commission for University Education (CUE), Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), and the Vice Chancellor United States International University (USIU) plus IEBC Returning Officer in Kakamega, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) were listed among the respondents in the case.
IEBC Disputes Tribunal had dismissed the petition that had challenged Mr Malala’s academic qualifications arguing that the electoral agency, in line with the provisions of Regulation 47 of the Electoral General Regulation, 2012 was not mandated to investigate the authenticity of candidates' academic documents and that such investigations should be left to the courts and criminal investigative agencies.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Otieno said the respondents who testified in court proved that Mr Malala was fit to contest the gubernatorial seat.
“We invited USIU, CUE, KNEC and IEBC in court and the evidence availed to court proved that the academic documents – both KCSE and the university degree were genuine. The petitioners failed to prove that the respondent did not acquire genuine academic certificates. There is no basis and the petition is dismissed,” ruled Justice Otieno.
He directed all parties to bear own costs.
