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Governor Granton Samboja was not at KU student, court told

By PHILIP MUYANGA September 18th, 2017 2 min read

Kenyatta University has said it has no record indicating Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja was a student at the institution who graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2009.

The University said their internal search revealed that Mr Samboja had not applied for, obtained admission or attended the institution as a student for a certificate, diploma and degree in Project Management, Human Resource Management and Bachelor of Commerce respectively.

Through an affidavit filed in court by its legal officer Aaron Tanui, the University said it received a letter from Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on April 12 requesting for information on whether Mr Samboja was a student at the institution.

According to Mr Tanui, EACC also wanted to know Mrs Samboja’s course application information, courses undertaken and duration, certificates awarded and any other relevant information.

Mr Tanui further said that annexed to the letter were copies of degree, diploma and a certificate certificates.

SCOUR RECORDS

“Armed with the documents and information, staff at the Kenyatta University were instructed to scour the records to ascertain not only their authenticity but also to elucidate the circumstances under which they would have been issued,” said Mr Tanui.

He added that upon further investigations, it was revealed that Mr Samboja did not graduate at the institution with a degree, diploma and certificate as per the copies sent by EACC and that the certificates were fake.

Mr Tanui said the information also indicated that the Governor had applied to be admitted for Master of Business Administration degree using certificates from Costa Rica.

“In his application for admission for MBA, he stated that he had a degree in Business Management from Universad E. Dee Costa Rica in 2013, Diploma in business management (2008) Cambridge Association of Managers and KCSE certificate mean grade C plain,” said Mr Tanui.

However, Mr Tanui further said that beyond providing information at the behest of EACC, the institution is not party to the political ambitions of Mr Samboja.

NULL AND VOID

The affidavit was filed in relation to a petition filed a voter who seeking a declaration that the election of Mr Samboja as Taita Taveta Governor without meeting educational and ethical qualifications is null and void.

Kenyatta University, EACC and two other voters are interested parties in the suit filed by Mr Armstrong Mwandoo Kiwoi, a voter from Voi.

The petitioner has also sued Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Attorney General and the County of Taita Taveta as the respondents.

The petitioner is also seeking a permanent injunction barring Mr Samboja from contesting in any General Election for the position of Governor in Taita Taveta or any other county across the country without meeting educational and ethical qualifications.

On Monday, Justice Eric Ogola directed all parties to file their responses within 14 days and directed that a pre-trial to be conducted on October 13 in Voi.