Questions raised about Wanjiru’s degrees

Bishop  Margaret Wanjiru right

By Jacob Ng'etich

Nairobi, Kenya: The ODM Nairobi gubernatorial politics is getting muddier by the day. The latest development is a bundle of documents that bring to the fore what is being termed “questionable qualifications” for Starehe MP, Bishop Dr Margaret Wanjiru to contest for the governor’s seat.

But in a quick rejoinder, Bishop Wanjiru claims that this is the work of her opponents “desperate to lock me out of the race.”

The saga of “Wanjiru degrees” was sparked off early this week when a group of ODM members petitioned the party over the eligibility of the Housing Assistant minister to run for the City seat.

Objections raised

In a letter to Franklin Bett, the Chairman ODM Party National Elections Board and the party Secretary General Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o dated Friday, January 4, the petitioners raised the objection to Wanjiru running for post of governor of Nairobi.

The petitioners allege that she did not possess the minimum educational requirements for the position of governor as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya, 2010.

The letter drew attention to Section 72(2) of the Elections Act which stipulates that: “Where a political party knowingly nominates a candidate who does not meet the requirements of the Constitution, the political party commits an offence and shall be disqualified from nominating a candidate to contest in that election or in the next election in that electoral area.” Through their lawyer M W Kamau, the petitioners threatened to institute proceedings in court for appropriate reliefs to safeguard political rights of ODM voters pursuant to Article 38 of the Constitution of Kenya.

They said that the ODM Elections Board was charged with the responsibility of verifying the credentials of all electoral candidates and as party members they were therefore putting the board on notice since they believed that Wanjiru did not possess the required academic credentials for the seat. They have asked the party not to include her name in the list of nominees until she provided proof that the academic credentials she possessed meet the standards.

The petitioners say that Wanjiru presented two degree certificates from United Graduate College and Seminary International and Vineyard Harvester Bible College, which they argued, are not accredited institutions of higher learning.

According to the letter, the chronology of the attainments of degrees by the Starehe Member of Parliament has also been put to question.

“Wanjiru has a certificate for a doctorate degree that was conferred seven years before her bachelors,” read part of the letter.

The petitioners also point out that Wanjiru’s documents do not indicate the dates and the length of time that she spent in pursuing her ‘degrees’.

“We would like to understand the length of time that Dr Wanjiru spent studying in pursuit of her degrees, the mode of study (live or online) and what courses were taken,” the letter said.

Among the documents that have raised the furore around Bishop Wanjiru’s qualifications include an ‘O’ Level certificate for one “Wanjiru Kariuki” who sat her Form Four final exam at CGHU Secondary School in 1979 and failed in all the subjects except one. Incidentally, Bishop Wanjiru in her CV states that she had her secondary education at CGHU Secondary School. But during a telephone interview, Bishop Wanjiru, however, dismissed the petition questioning her qualifications claiming these are “desperate manoeuvres by my opponents to force me out of the race.”

Defeat is near

“When people realise that defeat is near they resort to non-issues. We are busy trying to convince the few undecided voters to support us but others are busy looking for mud to stick on us so that we can look dirty but this will not deter us,” said Wanjiru.

During the interview, Bishop Wanjiru proffered that in fact she had five degrees, three honorary and two academic.

“I wonder where they got my papers from, unless they broke into my office, it goes to show that some of my opponents are running out of ideas,” said Wanjiru.

But she avoided responding to the specifics on the questions raised around her qualifications instead choosing to accuse her opponents of being behind a campaign to smear her reputation. Other reports indicate that the issue of Bishop Wanjiru’s ‘degrees’ has escalated to the Commission for Higher Education (CHE), which has also raised questions about the credibility of the institutions that awarded the Starehe MP her degrees.

But Wanjiru is not the only candidate to claim that there was a plot to edge her out of the race for Nairobi governor.

Recently, former Mumias Managing Director and also Nairobi governor’s seat aspirant Evans Kidero said there were plans to elbow him out of the city race. During the unveiling of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy leadership line-up at Uhuru Park, Kidero emotionally said that some people wanted him rigged out at the party nominations in favour of a ‘weak aspirant’.

“There is a feeling among some if you hail from other region outside Nairobi, then you should be locked out of the race. We should go for somebody on account of his or her performance capabilities and not ethnic background,” he said. The ODM primaries have attracted three aspirants including former Nairobi City Council clerk Philip Kisia.