Nyeri: Blacklisted aspirant faults IEBC for using 2013 data to disqualify him
Nyeri gubernatorial aspirant Thuo Mathenge, who was among the blacklisted aspirants by the IEBC over allegations of not being qualified academically, has said that he will still be on the ballot on August 9, as he has all the qualifications required to vie for the seat.
Thuo said that IEBC used the data that was used in 2013, yet he enrolled for a three-year degree in business management course at the Presbyterian University of East Africa where he graduated in 2019.
"We have seen in the news Chebukati talking about qualification from presidential aspirants, governors, senators, all other candidates and mostly he talked about education. I want to state that in my case, he used the information that was used in 2017," Thuo said. 
He said that his degree was disqualified in 2017 but after investigations, it was validated.
He however says he decided to enrol at PUEA and undertook the business management degree.
Thuo said that he is blaming the EACC for his predicament of failure to update his data even after presenting his academic papers to the integrity body on time.
"What is required by the IEBC to qualify to vie as a governor is a certified degree certificate which I already have. I'm not blaming Chebukati for what I'm going through but the EACC for not updating my data even after presenting my certificates on time," he said.
Thuo said that even after pursuing the matter with EACC on Friday and them accepting the blame, they went ahead to disqualify him, a move he says has injured his reputation.
He said that he will present his nomination papers on Monday at IEBC offices as he believes he has all that is required to enable him to vie for the governor's seat.
"I'll be presenting my papers to the returning officer in Nyeri on Monday at 11.00 am and I'm telling my supporters who were angered by Chebukati's utterances to play cool, we have no problem, we have all the documents needed, and we will get the certificate from IEBC because we have the documents, " he said.
Thuo was also forced to replace his running mate Dr Esther Maina with Mary Kihara as she failed to resign from her lecturer job within the stipulated time.
