Education Cabinet Secretary George Omore Magoha has now joined the push to have all Kenyan graduates be subjected to mandatory verification to authenticate their academic papers.
Speaking on Wednesday, June 22, the Education CS noted that the ongoing debate regarding the legitimacy of degrees had lifted the lid on the mess in the country’s education system.
Magoha hinted that if vested with the necessary powers, he would order for all graduates to undergo fresh verification to validate their certificates.
No judge can give you a degree or even the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). A degree must come from a university. In fact, I do not have powers but if I had, I would say that because of all this noise that everybody’s degree should now be checked.
So that we find out if this is actually a problem because it is becoming a big issue because you can’t have a degree in six months,” Magoha explained.
Defending his sentiments, the CS maintained that validation of the academic certificates would preserve the dignity of the country’s education system which had been exposed in a bad way following filed cases regarding a number of applicants.
He further castigated the political class for diverting the academic papers’ debate and making it political.
It is very unfortunate that the issues of fake degrees are now being politicised instead of being handled professionally,” the CS remarked.
Magoha, who was on an inspection tour to inspect the preparedness for the rollout of CBC education in junior secondary schools, noted that various government agencies could carry out the validation process led by the Commission for University Education (CUE).
His sentiment came just hours after CUE withdrew a letter revoking Nairobi UDA gubernatorial aspirant Johnson Sakaja’s degree from Team University.
CUE noted that it has reversed its decision but was still carrying out investigations to authenticate the validity of his degree.
“The substratum of this suit, being the letter dated June 14, 2022, for which review is sought, is hereby withdrawn pending further investigations by the respondent, which investigations are currently ongoing,” CUE chairperson Chacha Nyaigotti stated.
The Nairobi senator had moved to court seeking the arrest of Nyaigotti for disobeying court orders.
“This statement in reiteration not only confirms the contemnor’s contempt, disregard, and disobedience of the court orders but it also amounts to a direct challenge and dare of the authority of the court,” a letter by his lawyers read in part.
Other lawmakers who were caught up in the degree fiasco include dismissed presidential hopeful Walter Nyambane, Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa, Safina party presidential aspirant Jimi Wanjigi and Wiper’s Machakos gubernatorial aspirant Wavinya Ndeti among others.
