Sakaja Says Those Who Want Him Out Of The Race Are Malicious Mercenary On A Political Witch-Hunt

Johnson Sakaja, a senator from Nairobi, now says the person requesting his exclusion from the election for Nairobi’s mayor due to the legitimacy of his academic papers is an evil “mercenary” engaged in a political witch hunt.

In court documents submitted in response to Dennis Gakuu Wahome’s complaint, the embattled lawmaker claims that the prolonged legal proceeding is being orchestrated by anonymous, powerful individuals in an effort to defame him in front of the public.

“I affirm that the gist of the Petitioner’s suits challenging the validity of my academic qualifications are deliberately and primarily calculated to subject me to public humiliation, embarrassment as well as unreasonably restrict the exercise of my political and social rights under article 38 to be a candidate for public office,” reads court papers dated July 1.

Defending his alleged Bachelor of Science in Management degree from Team University in Uganda against accusations that it was obtained fraudulently, Mr. Sakaja said the concerns raised were motivated by hate.

“Or office within a political party of which the citizen is a member and, if elected, to hold office. 9. That it is easy to unmask the Scheme behind the filing of this Petition by the Petitioner as a mercenary, proxy and a gun for hire by forces driven by malice and political witch-hunt,” he said.

He also questioned Mr. Wahome’s “curious” access to numerous papers, including the 2016 Jubilee Party nomination forms and the supposed immigration records.

“The Honourable Court ought to take judicial notice of the fact that such documents which the Petitioner seeks to rely on (whose authenticity are in question anyway- and we ask the court to disregard the same) are not usually easily available to persons that are directly connected to any underlying investigations, let alone busy bodies that are unconnected to the underlying investigation such as the Petitioner,” he said.

After the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) denied Wahome’s protest regarding Mr. Sakaja’s approval to run for office last month, Wahome decided to file a lawsuit.

“The Petitioner herein has been driven by ulterior motives acting at the behest of my political competitors keen on usurping the sovereign power of the residents of Nairobi county to exercise their democratic right under Article 38 to elect their Governor of choice in a democratic process,” Sakaja says.

“He seeks to achieve this by placing unreasonable restrictions against my candidature through institution of frivolous suits both at the IEBC Dispute Resolution Committee and in this very instant Petition.”

The National Council for Higher Education-Uganda (NCHE), according to Mr. Sakaja, has already endorsed the legitimacy of his degree diploma, despite the Commission for University Education (CUE) having revoked it.

On Friday, July 1, IEBC rejected the CUE’s decision to invalidate Sakaja’s university diploma.

Since the university was not providing the course outside of its limits by the time the senator received his degree, CUE on Thursday revoked its recognition of the credential.

Wafula Chebukati, the chair of the electoral commission, quickly responded by pointing out that the Dispute Resolution Tribunal of the commission handled the degree controversy.

Chebukati asserts that the tribunal’s decision must be overturned by a court order in order to undo Sakaja’s clearance.

The legal team for Sakaja has promised to challenge the CUE ruling.

The case’s oral arguments are scheduled to be heard at the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi, on Monday, June 4.