Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja has a reason to smile after the High Court dismissed a petition to disqualify him from the Nairobi gubernatorial race in the August general election over the credibility of his academic credentials.

While giving his ruling, Justice Anthony Mrima said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) did not err in clearing Sakaja to contest for the Nairobi governor’s seat because there was no evidence confirming that he was indeed unqualified.

Mrima ruled that the petitioner Dennis Gakuu Wahome did not prove Sakaja’s Team University degree certificate was forged therefore throwing out the petition and upholding IEBC’s Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) decision.

“The evidential burden shifted to the petitioner. Even by considering the evidence in the affidavit that was struck out by the tribunal, there was no evidence to support allegations levelled against Mr Sakaja. The tribunal did not err in dismissing the complaint for lack of proof,” Mrima said.

Mrima also threw out another petition in which Wahome opined that IEBC failed to perform its duty to verify the documents Sakaja submitted before it.

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In his petition, Wahome argued that the electoral body had a statutory mandate and obligation to verify the authenticity of the documents all aspirants submitted.

“By taking no steps to verify the authenticity of the degree certificate purportedly issued to Mr Sakaja by Team University on October 21, 2016 the IEBC and the returning officer were complicit to a fraud perpetrated by Mr Sakaja, contrary to the IEBC’s obligations as established by Article 88(4) of the Constitution,” Wahome argued.

However, Mrima ruled that IEBC does not have the mandate to verify the authenticity of the documents submitted by aspirants emphasising the commission is not constitutionally obligated to verify the authenticity of Sakaja’s academic credentials.

“There is no legal provision requiring the elections returning officer to verify the authenticity of documents availed by aspirants, no law or constitution places such a duty on the IEBC and returning officers. They would act in vain by verifying the documents, as IEBC has no tools. There is no reason for this court to add other duties on IEBC which are not provided for in the law,” Mrima said.

Mrima noted that such cases were not unique to the courts but charged the investigative agencies and the Office of the Director of Criminal Investigations must take up measures against the vice.