What is in a name? Ferdinand Waititu versus William Kabogo

Kiambu Governor William Kabogo (left) who is challenging the authenticity of the degree certificate from Punjab University  [PHOTO: FILE]

When Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu declared interest in the Kiambu gubernatorial seat, the incumbent Governor William Kabogo was incensed. And a battle began.

Waititu, known for his combative style of politics, quickly brought some Kiambu County MPs to his side and they began accusing Kabogo of poorly managing the county affairs.

Kabogo, also known for his abrasive nature, didn’t take the onslaught lying down. He used every opportunity to discredit Waititu’s leadership and academic qualifications.

The protracted war of words between the two TNA elected leaders has now landed in court.

Kabogo, armed with a 92-page affidavit, drawn by Sheila K. Amani Advocates, wants the court to determine that Clifford Ndungu Waititu is a totally different person from Ferdinand Waititu, two names that the Kabete legislator has laid claim to.

In the affidavit filed on April 26, this year, at the Milimani Law Courts, Kabogo also challenges Waititu’s academic papers, saying he is not clear where he went to school and has a forged passport.

The Kiambu governor has filed documents from the schools attended by his political nemesis, Kenya National Examination Council (Knec), TNA, Public Service Commission (PSC) and India’s Punjab University to support his case.

In court papers seen by The Standard, Kabogo claims Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu is not Clifford Ndung’u Waititu. He claims that Clifford Waititu actually went to school and obtained a university degree but that the Kabete MP then stole Clifford’s identity and academic credentials.

School register

Waititu has told the court that he was admitted to Dagoretti High School in 1980 as Ndung’u Waititu. But according to the school register, no student with the name Ndung’u Waititu was admitted there in 1980 but Ndung’u Wainaina under registration number 2563.

But in another twist, Knec said Kabogo’s earlier affidavit that contained a Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) examination code-linked to some academic papers of the Kabete MP had a wrong code.

The Knec told the court that the CPE code Kabogo had tabled in court questioning the academic credentials of Waititu were forged.

But in the papers submitted on April 26, Kabogo now says the Kabete MP is not Ferdinand Clifford Ndung’u Waititu but Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu.

He alleges that Waititu changed his name to Clifford Ndung’u Waititu in the run up to the 2013 General Election, a name he said he had since his youthful days but one he rarely used.

But Waititu insists he joined Dagoretti High School from Ruiru High School.

He says he was born sometime between 1963 and 1964 as the fourth born in a family of seven, being the eldest son from the second home of his father Ndogi Waititu who had two wives.

The MP paints a picture of a man who fought hard to go to school before joining active politics. He won a parliamentary seat in a by-election in 2008 after the killing of Mugabe Were, the then Embakasi legislator, by gunmen.

Waititu later lost to Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero in the 2013 gubernatorial election.

He later joined the National Assembly after winning another by-election, after the fatal shooting of Kabete MP George Muchai. Muchai was in 2015 gunned down in the Nairobi’s central business district.

Kabogo has also produced in court birth certificate application forms he says are consistent with Waititu’s details at the registrar of persons at the immigration department.

An official search at the immigration department confirms that a man identified as Clifford Karanja Waititu son of Waititu Ndogi made an application for a birth certificate on the January 15, 1985 and was granted one.

The birth certificate issued to Clifford Karanja Waititu shows that he was born in 1965 and his father is Ndogi Waititu and the mother is Monica Njeri Wainaina.

Also, there is Ferdinand Waititu’s birth certificate application form that shows that the MP was born sometime in 1962 and shared a father with Clifford Karanja Waititu.

Passport photos

Kabogo has produced in court the two Waititus’ passport photographs taken on various dates and extracted from several documents which he says demonstrate the two men are different but share the same father.

The governor alleges the resemblance is that of two brothers but they are two distinct human beings.

The Standard has seen two reports commonly referred to as MSG report that contains the data of Kenyan citizens as captured by the director of immigration dated June 2015.

They indicate the Ministry of Immigration has two MSG reports of Clifford Karanja Wainaina Waititu born in 1965 and that of Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu born sometime in 1962.

The MP says he does not know why immigration officials allowed him to travel to India under the name of Ferdinand Waititu yet his admission letter was under Clifford.

Waititu has dismissed claims by Kabogo that he doesn’t possess a university degree. He has tabled in court certificates and result slips he says he obtained as a degree student in Punjab University.

He maintains he was a student at the university, took part in extra curriculum activities before eventually graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

However, Kabogo, in fresh evidence now before the court, places Clifford Ndung’u Waititu at Punjab university between 1985 and 1988. The governor maintains the man who studied at the prestigious university was not Ferdinand Waititu.

Kabogo says the student who received an admission letter to join the SGGS college, a constituent college of Punjab University dated February 8, 1984 was Clifford Waititu.

Papers seen by The Standard indicate that indeed Punjab University admitted Clifford Waititu but it doesn’t have any student in the name of Ferdinand Waititu.

The Kabete MP has filed in court papers of a colleague he says was at the university at the same time he was studying there.

The student Samuel Mungai Mucheru was admitted under the name of Samuel M. Mucheru and went ahead to graduate with a degree.

In a new twist, court papers seen by The Standard accuse Ferdinand Waititu of presenting in court a forged passport.

For example, the passport application form has an initial F and the name Clifford has been cancelled and in its place the name Ferdinand has been added.

Kabogo claims that Clifford Ndung’u Waititu’s passport as contained in his file was renewed under the name of Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu. The governor says this was the stage at which the identity theft was formalised.

Kabogo maintains Kabete MP Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu was issued with his first passport under his true name on the September 27, 2008.

Waititu, who has worked as an assistant minister in the grand coalition government, says he has worked as an accountant in the ministry of Finance before.

However, Government employer – the Public Service Commission (PSC) – has said Waititu was never employed by the commission.