The issue of politicians acquiring suspect university degrees and fake academic papers always comes to the spotlight whenever we near to a general election.

The aspirants always fight tooth and nail against the allegations of their academic credentials being fake.

Lately, there had been wrangles in court over Kenya National Qualifications Authority's (KNQA's) role in the verification of academic papers.

This is after a petitioner had moved to court arguing that the Authority had no powers to approve national and foreign certificates.

PIC Chairman, Abdulswamad Nassir, affirmed that KNQA is performing the roles illegally. KNQA has been at the forefront of curbing fraudulent academic papers in the recent past.

In Feb 2021, the Authority released a report revealing that 1 in 3 Kenyans possessed fake academic papers

Here are a number of politicians who have been accused of possessing fake academic papers.

1. Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja

He suffered a heavy blow in his quest to ascend to the city’s governorship position after the Commission for University Education (CUE) officially revoked the recognition of his degree from Uganda’s Team University.

2. Taita Governor, Granton Samboja

Questions were raised surrounding academic qualifications after Kenyatta University indicated there are no records to indicate that he was a student at the institution.

3. Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho

He survived being barred from defending his seat after the Kenya National Examinations Council alleged his secondary school certificate was a forgery.

4. Former Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi

He became the first casualty among county bosses to lose his seat in an election petition after a court ruled he was not validly elected because he lacked a valid degree certificate.

5. Justice Alfred Mabeya

He dismissed his Master's degree noting that he had not graduated with any degree and one cannot obtain a Master‘s degree before obtaining a Bachelor’s one.

6. Wiper Partner Agnes Kavindu

She threatened to move to court over Machakos Wiper senatorial by-election candidate clearance by IEBC.

The party demanded an explanation from Machakos county IEBC returning officer Joyce Wamalwa on how Kavindu was cleared for the race without meeting the necessary academic qualifications.

7. Kiambu governor, Ferdinand Waititu

In 2013, Ferdinand Waititu presented his certificates to the media following repeated question marks over the degree he claims to have acquired from Punjab university in India.

Among others have been at the forefront of these accusations.

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