Turkana governor fails to stop fake degree case

Turkana Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai now faces arrest after the High Court dismissed his bid to stop his prosecution over claims that he forged his academic papers.

Justice Reuben Nyakundi rejected the Governor’s application for anticipatory bail pending the hearing and determination of the suit where he is challenging the decision by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to arrest him over allegations of holding a fake degree.

“The petitioner (Lomorukai) had failed to demonstrate that the EACC and the DPP, Inspector General of Police have breached his fundamental rights to freedom or that there exists any threat of his rights to warrant the grant of anticipatory bail. The petition has no merit and accordingly dismissed it,” Justice Nyakundi ordered.

According to the anti-graft agency, it was established that both the Governor’s degree and diploma certificates were fake, thus rendering him liable to criminal prosecution.

IEBC clearance

While declining the Governor’s application, the judge noted that the EACC had not abused or misused its powers when it commenced investigations and its subsequent decision to recommend his prosecution to the office of the DPP.

“In my view by undertaking investigations, the commission were not only carrying out their constitution mandate under Article 244 and 243 of the Constitution and can not be curtailed by this court if they wish to bring charges of any kind against the Governor,”  Justice Nyakundi ruled.

Further, the judge noted that the Governor, save for being apprehensive about the impending arrest, had not demonstrated to the court any illegal or unlawful manner in which the EACC might have undertaken the investigations.

EACC says the Governor forged a degree and diploma certificates purported to have been issued by the Kenya Methodist University.

The Governor is said to have used the alleged forged papers to seek clearance to contest the governor’s seat.

According to an affidavit filed in court by EACC investigator Celestine Owiti, investigations against the Governor were necessitated by the a complaint lodged on January 27, 2017 alleging that he had irregularly and fraudulently acquired a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Counseling from the Kenya Methodist University (KEMU).

It was further reported that Lomorukai sat the 1994 KCSE examination in Lodwar High School and attained a C-(Minus), which made him ineligible to join university for an undergraduate course.

When the complaint was lodged at the EACC, Lomorukai was a Member of County Assembly of Turkana and was vying for the position of Member of Parliament for Loima Constituency which he won.

The commission further informed the court that the investigations into the matter established that the Lomurkai had applied for a pre-university programme at KEMU in January 2012, and soon after, before completing the pre-university programme, purported to have applied for a diploma in counseling in the same year.

EACC says KEMU has no records of Lomorukai registering for the diploma course.