Nairobi gubernatorial candidate Polycarp Igathe shares images of his graduation

Nairobi gubernatorial candidate Polycarp Igathe has on Monday, June 13 taken to his twitter account to share images of his graduation at the University of Nairobi (UoN), in what appears to be a subtle diss towards United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Johnson Sakaja.

In the photos seen by this writer, the former Vice President in charge of Sales and Marketing in Vivo Energy Africa can be seen posing in two different images, one with a graduation gown and the other without.

In the former the caption reads; "Here I was with 'Man Mash' aka Charles Macharia ~ Graduation Day, December 1995." While the latter reads; "With my buddy Mbugu Elias on the day of our graduation. Tumetoka mbali!"

Sakaja degree debacle

The two are frontrunners to clinch Nairobi's top seat, however Sakaja has been at the centre stage of scrutiny in the past few days following allegations he lacks a University degree, one of the documents the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) require in order to clear one to vie for Governor.

Four petitions have already been filed seeking to bar Sakaja from contesting in the General Election. This comes a day after it emerged that Senator Sakaja did not graduate from the University of Nairobi where he was a student leader.

“It is true Sakaja was admitted to the university and was pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science, studied from first year up to fourth year, but is yet to graduate,” UoN communications director John Orindi said.

File image of Johnson Sakaja on the campaign trail Pulse Live Kenya

Papers presented by the senator in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) however indicate that the senator graduated from Team University having pursued a Bachelor of Science Management, a programme he undertook online.

The Commission for University (CUE) Chief Executive Officer Mwenda Ntarangwi has however reached out to the University and confirmed the senator was in the institution.

“It is hereby confirmed that Team University is a recognized institution in Uganda. The qualification awarded by the said institution is also recognized in Uganda and by convention in Kenya, once they own a student, you can’t really dispute. That’s the way it is for us,” said Ntarangwi.