Court: You Won't Need A Degree To Vie For President
This follows a petition filed in May 2022 by Nazlin Umar Rajput, a presidential aspirant in the 2022 General Election
admin
The High Court has ruled that those seeking to run for president will not need to have a degree certificate.
This follows a petition filed in May 2022 by Nazlin Umar Rajput, a presidential aspirant in the 2022 General Election, who was locked out of the highly-contested polls on the basis that she did not have a degree.
While making her submission, Rajput pleaded that based on the decision in Petition No. 28 of 2020 consolidated with others, the education qualifications for a presidential aspirant are the same as those of a Member of Parliament.
Among her prayers to the court was that an order is issued barring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from requiring or demanding a degree qualification from her, or any other Kenyan vying for the presidency.
2022 presidential aspirant Nazlin Umar Rajput. /CAPITAL GROUP
In a ruling dated December 16, 2022, Justice Anthony Mrima ruled that Section 22(2) of the Elections Act is unconstitutional for mandatorily demanding that a presidential aspirant must possess a university degree as long as the decision to waive the requirement for MPs stands.
The High Court in 2022 had nullified the section of the Election Act that compelled Members of Parliament to have a degree.
“If the decision in Wambui & 10 Others v Speaker of the National Assembly & 6 others case continues to hold and a provision requiring Members of Parliament to possess university degrees is enacted within the confines of the Constitution and the law, then, and until then, Section 22(2) of the Elections Act as relating to the presidential qualifications will be in line with Article 137(1)(b) of the Constitution.
"However, before then, Section 22(2) of the Elections cannot stand in so far as the eligibility criterion for a presidential candidate is concerned,” Justice Mrima stated at that time.
The presidency becomes another premium position to have the degree requirement for aspirants done away with after the governor on September 30, 2022. The High Court at the time ruled that those seeking to run for gubernatorial positions in the future don't need to have a degree certificate to be cleared by IEBC.
Justice Anthony Mrima through a verdict noted that the gubernatorial election was the same as that of the Member of a County Assembly (MCA), meaning the requirement was deemed unconstitutional.
To avoid a mountain of petitions by governor aspirants over their winning competitors who were ineligible for lack of a university degree, Mrima said that the directive would be enforced in the 2027 General Elections.
The 11th Parliament introduced the degree requirement through an amendment of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act of 2017. It was put off during the 2017 polls, meaning it was effected in the 2022 polls.
The directive could come as good news for Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja, should he decide to vie for a second term in 2027.
Getting to the top County seat was no easy task for him as he had to fight numerous court battles in his bid to take over from former county boss, Mike Sonko. His degree from Team University in Uganda was for instance revoked by the Commission of University Education (CUE).
The High Court on Tuesday, July 12 cleared him to vie after it dismissed a petition that sought to disqualify him from the seat over the integrity of his academic qualifications. Dennis Gakuu filed the petition which had wanted Sakaja locked out of the race over the validity of his degree.
![Disruption At JKIA Over Leaking Roof Again [VIDEO]](https://viraltea.co.ke/uploads/images/202404/image_140x98_662bd4d0d2d5d.jpg){kind=small}
