Majority of people in Nairobi believe Sakaja has no valid degree – TIFA
Majority of voters in Nairobi believe that United Democratic Alliance (UDA) gubernatorial candidate Johnson Sakaja does not have a valid academic degree certificate.
According to the latest poll by TIFA, 36 percent of voters believe that he does not have a valid academic degree, while 29 percent believe that he has a valid academic degree. 35 percent claimed they do not know whether Sakaja, who is the outgoing senator for Nairobi, has a valid academic degree.
"The fact that a plurality (36 percent vs 29 percent) do not believe that the current incumbent (Sakaja) has a valid university degree (as claimed, from Uganda may yet undermine his lead, though more information about this issue may emerge at the DCI continues to investigate it)," the pollster said.
The pollster places Sakaja ahead of his rival Polycarp Igathe in terms of preference, with the former at 40 percent while the latter is at 32 percent. The remaining 28 percent of the voters are still undecided.
Among those prepared to vote for Sakaja as governor, only a slim majority (53 percent) believe his Ugandan university degree is valid, with a full one-fifth (20 percent) believing it is fake – a clear sign of the strength of their support for him, for whatever other reasons.
The senator has been battling allegations of having a fake degree from Team University in Uganda, which he claims he acquired in 2016.
54 percent of Raila Odinga's supporters believe that Sakaja's degree is fake, while only 14 percent of William Ruto's supporters believe the same. 14 percent of Raila's supporters believe that the degree is valid, as compared to 61 percent in Ruto's camp.
"
While overall, Nairobians are almost evenly divided as to the authenticity of Senator Sakaja’s Uganda university degree, there is a sharp contrast between supporters of the two main presidential candidates, with five times more of those who support Ruto holding the view that it is indeed valid as compared to supporters of Raila. But such a strong correlation also raises a counter-question: just who are the Ruto supporters who believe Sakaja’s degree is ‘fake’, and who are the equal proportion of Raila supporters (14%) who believe it is valid?" TIFA said.
Sakaja grilled by DCI
Sakaja was on Monday grilled for hours over claims that his degree certificate could have been forged.
The Senator arrived at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters at around 3.40 pm and only left well after 8 pm.
He was also expected to appear before the Commission for University Education (CUE) to provide further proof that his certificate was genuine but he ignored the session, saying he was not officially invited.
“I read it in the media. I can’t go there without an official invitation,” he said.
The senator was expected at the DCI headquarters at 2 pm but he went there almost two hours later.
He had, however, requested the detectives to give him some time as he was held in a meeting in Karen. He later went, accompanied by his running mate James Muchiri.
