Activist Omtatah moves to court to challenge governor Samboja’s academic papers
Human Rights Activist Okiya Omtatah has moved to court to challenge the governor of Taita Taveta Granton Samboja’s academic papers.
He says that the petition is about implementing the 2010 constitution and related to the defence of the Constitution.
“Unless this case is urgently heard and determined, the applicant and the people of Kenya will suffer a great loss and damage if the respondent continued using the fake certificates in violation of the constitution and national legislation,” reads court papers.
Omtatah argues that in mid 2017, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) informed IEBC that the governor holds fake academic certificates and now wants the court to quash the said documents.
“Among the issues the petitioner learned are that, in a report forwarded on 30th May, 2017 to the Chairman of the IEBC, on integrity of candidates seeking elective positions in the 2017 general elections, the EACC stated that Granton Graham Samboja had falsified a certificate, diploma certificate, degree certificate, and KCSE result slip and presented forged certificates for enrolment for a master’s program at Kenyatta University,” claims Omtata.
Further, Omtata says that individuals employed based on fake certificates contribute to the slowing down of a country’s or a company’s development because they are ill-equipped for the work they are hired to do based on fake certificates.
“They are also a danger to the general public in many ways, including that they allow quacks to perform tasks/duties they are not qualified to do, and they affect the morale of learners, especially the youth, as they are a disincentive as there is no point for one to struggle and work hard to acquire certifications which can simply be scammed,” Omtatah argues.
High Court Judge James Makau dismissed the case last week saying the constitutional court lacks jurisdiction to handle the matter.
He avered that the anti-graft agency ought to have filed its case before an electoral court and not a constitutional court.
Governor Samboja has been under investigations by EACC for years now over questionable academic qualifications.
