Education Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i has maintained a hardline stance that his ministry will not relent in its quest to weed out fake education credentials in the country.
Dr. Matiang’i at the same time asked Kenyans to either do away with the requirement that certain elected leaders must have a university degree or keep quiet and support his endeavour of ensuring that only those possessing genuine certificates are allowed into the country’s leadership.
The CS who was speaking at St. Mary’s Yala School in Siayaon Friday said it was time for Kenyans to start entrenching the culture of honesty and hard work in national lives.
Matiang’i said the multi sectoral committee set to look into political aspirants’ credentials will strictly adhere to professionalism to ensure that only those who possess genuine certificates are allowed to seek public office.
He said that the origin of the country’s problems such as corruption and impunity was in vandalism of the education sector, where people who did not deserve some grades were illegally awarded.
“We cannot have a situation where people who want to lead us have suspect papers.People now stand to defend even things that cannot be defended,” Matiang’i stated.
The CS said that as long as the law demanded that certain elective posts must be held by people with university degrees, he will ensure that fake papers are not used.
He said that the alternative was for Kenyans to change the law and adopt the United States of America style where a degree is not a requirement for one to become a president or governor.
“We put it in law ourselves when we passed the constitution. If we have problem with it, let us remove it otherwise, we shall continue to implement the law,” he said.
The cabinet secretary further called on the judiciary to support the war against fake education credentials by ensuring that suspects do not use the courts to defeat justice through endless injunctions.
During the occasion, Dr. Matiang’i donated a Sh40 million grant from the ministry to the school to enable it improve on its infrastructure and pledged that the ministry will, in the next financial year, finance the modernisation of its kitchen.
He was flanked by Gem Member of Parliament Jakoyo Midiwo, Siaya women representative Dr. Christine Ombaka and the chairman of the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) Prof. Joseph Magoha.
