William Ruto responds on Johnson Sakaja degree saga during Kisii County tour [Video]

“I want to tell my old party Jubilee, leave Sakaja alone. He is educated and his academic qualifications are known so stop meddling in his affairs. People from the deep state and Azimio have made calls even to State House Uganda in a scheme to stop him from becoming the Nairobi governor.

“Let us meet at the ballot, Sakaja has enough certificates and documents. If there is anyone with questionable qualifications, it is the Azimio presidential candidate. Show where he went to school, who he went to school with and who was his teacher,” Ruto said.

Nairobi gubernatorial hopeful Johnson Sakaja Nairobi gubernatorial hopeful Johnson Sakaja Pulse Live Kenya

He said that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission should be allowed to conduct its affairs.

The DP added that Sakaja would give his competitors a run for their money.

On Wednesday evening the IEBC Dispute Resolution Committee dismissed three petitions seeking to bar Sakaja from vying over his qualifications.

However, the gubernatorial candidate will have to wait till Sunday afternoon for the IEBC to give a final verdict on his candidature.

The High Court has also suspended the Commission of University Education’s decision to revoke recognition of Sakaja’s degree from Team University in Uganda.

The court also blocked the IEBC from striking out the name of Sakaja from the list of candidates cleared to vie for the governor seat.

The senator accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of using his influence to compel the CUE to revoke recognition of his degree.

“The purported revocation of my credentials by the Commission for University Education (CUE) chairman is null and void, and politically instigated.

“The chairman, Prof Chacha Nyaigotti Chacha, has been coerced and intimidated by President Uhuru Kenyatta to illegally revoke recognition of accreditation that has been properly issued,” read an excerpt of Sakaja’s statement.

The senator explained that on June 6, he presented his qualifications to the CUE for recognition. The commission conducted due diligence by first writing to their counterpart in Uganda, National Council for Higher Education, which in turn wrote to the university.

Johnson Sakaja with his running mate James Njoroge Muchiri shortly after they were cleared by IEBC to join the Nairobi gubernatorial contest Pulse Live Kenya

He added that the commission confirmed the authenticity of the qualification from Team University through the National Council for Higher Education and thus recognised Sakaja’s qualifications.

“Following this, President Uhuru Kenyatta and the entire State machinery have gone on an intimidation spree against institutions locally and in Uganda to revoke the recognition of my qualifications in a bid to stop me from being the Governor of Nairobi.

“They have sent officials from the Kenyan High Commission in Uganda to intimidate Team University staff as well as that country’s National Council for Higher Education. The university has remained firm and refused to be intimidated. So has the Council for Higher Education in Uganda. The only institution that has succumbed to this intimidation is the Kenyan CUE,” Sakaja continued his attack on President Kenyatta.