The High Court has thrown out a petition seeking to nullify the election of Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu Muthama over allegations that she lacks a university degree and was not qualified to contest the seat.
Justice George Odunga said the law that requires lawmakers to possess a university degree was not applicable to Ms Muthama as she was elected in a by-election.
Justice Odunga said Parliament had suspended implementation of the degree requirement until after the elections “to be held after the 2017 general election”.
The petition was filed by a voter, Wilfred Manthi Musyoka, and supported by Ms Muthama’s former campaign manager, Anthony Wambua Nzau.
Ms Muthama was elected in March 2021 on a Wiper party ticket following the death of Boniface Kabaka.
Mr Musyoka sued to challenge the decision of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to clear her nomination, saying she was ineligible as she did not possess the required educational qualifications. He added that she did not have a post-secondary certificate either.
Mr Nzau had told Mr Musyoka that Ms Muthama may not have completed primary school and did not have secondary school education.
Mr Nzau swore an affidavit supporting the petition, stating that the senator is his aunt and in 2017, when she was contesting the position of Machakos County woman representative, she hired him as her campaign manager. The position included facilitating her clearance by several constitutional bodies.
As a result, he saw her documents. And in 2020, when the Senate by-election was announced, he was engaged to perform the same duties.
In facilitating her clearance, Mr Nzau said, he discovered that she attended Kyaume Primary School but did not have a completion certificate and that she never attended secondary school.
He attached the self-declaration forms of Ms Muthama that he said indicated that sections where she was required to indicate her education qualifications were marked as inapplicable or left blank.
The petitioner said that World Outreach International Bible College, which awarded the senator a certificate, is not recognised in Kenya as an accredited institution of higher learning as no letter or certificate was produced to confirm any accreditation.
The petitioner said the certificate did not qualify as a post-secondary school qualification as Ms Muthama did not attend any secondary school.
Justice Odunga noted that Ms Muthama had failed to prove that she had a post-secondary academic qualification.
“Mr Nzau (her nephew and campaign manager) swore that in that capacity, he came to know that Ms Muthama did not complete primary school and therefore could not have obtained post-secondary school qualification recognised in Kenya,” Justice Odunga said.
“She did not swear any affidavit to controvert this very damning deposition.”
The court found that the burden of proof had shifted to Ms Muthama.
Ms Muthama and the Wiper party had jointly urged the judge to strike out the petition on the grounds that the court lacked the authority to determine nomination disputes.
They also argued that no evidence was presented from relevant institutions charged with recognising degrees in Kenya that Ms Muthama uttered a false degree certificate. BY DAILY NATION