CUE Officially Revokes Recognition of Sakaja’s Team University Degree

In a letter dated June 29 and addressed to Wafula Chebukati, the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), CUE stated that the decision was made after the conclusion of the relevant investigations.

For the purpose of its investigations, the commission had asked Sakaja for a variety of documents, including: a letter of admission from Team University; course units and dates studied for confirming the number of hours of instruction and workload requirements; transcripts; payment receipts for fees; the names of the lecturers who had taught him; a graduation booklet; and any correspondence he had with university staff regrading his studies.

CUE further wanted the embattled Senator to furnish it with material evidence on content, profile, workload, quality and learning outcomes as proof of him earning the degree.

“Despite being granted an opportunity to make written and oral representations on the matter vide letters dated 25th June, 2022 and 26th June, 2022, he disregarded, refused and or ignored both the request to provide information and the opportunity to exercise his right to be heard during the further investigations,” wrote CUE.

“The Commission, proceeded with its investigations which included examination of his application, communication from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in Uganda and the attached documents together with the information submitted to it by the complainants.”
According to the commission, its subsequent investigations have shown that the documents Sakaja supplied from Team University showed he pursued a Bachelor of Science in Management (External), which the university was allegedly not authorized to offer at the time by NCHE.

The university is only authorized to provide Bachelor of Science in Management, not Bachelor of Science in Management (External), which are two distinct courses, as the team led by Prof. Mwenda Ntarangwi discovered.
NCHE stated that Team University had verified Sakaja’s enrollment for Bachelor of Science in Management rather than Bachelor of Science in Management, according to CUE, which was further added (External).

“Bachelor of Science in Management (External) is not Bachelor of Science in Management, and it contravenes the provisions of PROG/STD 05 guideline 1 of Universities Standards and Guidelines, 2014, which provides that ‘academic programmes title shall adopt universal nomenclature for similar programmes and shall be short, concise and descriptive of its overall content,’” noted CUE.

“That in Sakaja Johnson Arthur official declaration in 2017 while vying for the position of Senator, he indicated that the only higher education qualification he held was a degree from the University of Nairobi. There was no declaration made pertaining to Team University, from which he now states that he had obtained a degree from in 2016. The University of Nairobi has since written to the Commission, confirming that whereas he enrolled for a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science in 2003, he did not complete his studies.”

It added: “…at the conclusion of these investigations we have not received any evidence from NCHE, Team University or Sakaja that prove that Sakaja pursued studies at Team University and earned a degree in Bachelor of Science in Management (External). Failure to submit even the most basic evidence of study and the process of earning a degree inevitably renders the degree certificate submitted insufficient to prove that Sakaja studied either physically or through distance learning and that he holds an academic degree.”

Therefore, the commission informed Chebukati of its choice to stop accepting Sakaja’s university degree, noting that the Senator has the right to challenge the choice.