Petitioner in my degree suit a hired gun, says Johnson Sakaja
Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja.
Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja claims the voter who is seeking his disqualification from the governor race is a “hired gun” keen to subject him to public humiliation.
In documents filed in court in response to the case lodged by the voter, Dennis Gakuu Wahome, Mr Sakaja has dismissed claims that the degree he acquired from a Ugandan university is controversial and that the questions raised are based on malice.
Claiming that the petitioner is a proxy of powerful forces he did not name, Mr Sakaja has questioned Mr Wahome's ability to access multiple documents including the alleged immigration records and Jubilee Party nomination applications dating 2016.
"The gist of Mr Wahome’s suits challenging the validity of my academic qualifications are deliberately and primarily calculated to subject me to public humiliation, embarrassment as well as unreasonably restrict the exercise of my political and social rights," he says.
Mr Wahome escalated the fight to court after the electoral commission's dispute resolution committee dismissed his complaint against Mr Sakaja's clearance to contest the gubernatorial seat.
“The petitioner has been driven by ulterior motives acting at the behest of my political competitors keen on usurping the sovereign power of the residents of Nairobi County to exercise their democratic right under Article 38 of the Constitution to elect their governor of choice in a democratic process," says Mr Sakaja.
The Nairobi senator is vying on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket
“He (the petitioner) seeks to achieve this by placing unreasonable restrictions against my candidature through institution of frivolous suits both at the IEBC Dispute Resolution Committee and in this very instant petition," he adds.
Through lawyer Elias Mutuma, the senator said in a 10-page replying affidavit that the Bachelor of Science in Management he acquired from Team University, Uganda, is not bogus as alleged by the voter.
In addition, he argues that the National Council for Higher Education-Uganda (NCHE) had last month confirmed the legitimacy of the degree.
Although the Commission for University Education (CUE) revoked his degree certificate, Mr Sakaja says CUE had on June 6, 2022 written to their counterparts in Uganda, the Executive Director NCHE, in a bid to confirm the status of the said academic qualification considering that the said degree was issued by a foreign University.
Justice Anthony Mrima will hear the oral arguments today at the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi.
