IEBC removes Thuo Mathenge from Nyeri governor's race
The electoral commission has struck out Thuo Mathenge from the list of Nyeri gubernatorial candidates.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) spokesman Andrew Limo on Wednesday confirmed Mr Mathenge’s removal.
DEGREE
IEBC Nyeri County manager Aluisia Kanini said the decision was made following a petition filed by a resident, who argued that Mr Mathenge did not have a degree certificate.
She said the businessman had been cleared by the polls body and given a nod to pursue his bid but the decision was overturned a week later.
The petitioner, Ms Kanini said, quoted a 2013 judgment by High Court Judge James Wakiaga in which the court found that Mr Mathenge had falsified his degree.
“The petitioner did not attend classes at Fairland University and therefore the degree certificate awarded to him was not validly awarded. Mr Mathenge was not eligible to run for the office of the governor,” said Justice Wakiaga.
Mr Mathenge has already filed a fresh suit challenging the IEBC’s decision, arguing that his degree in social work and social development from Uganda is genuine.
NEW SUIT
He insists that he has met the threshold to contest the governorship.
The case is scheduled to come up for hearing on July 13.
“I can confirm that Mr Mathenge’s candidature has been revoked, but there is a court case and we are also waiting for the court to decide and give directions,” said Ms Kanini.
“But a governor candidate must have a degree to be allowed to participate in the elections.”
According to a Kenya Gazette notice from the commission published on July 4, only three politicians will battle it out for the Nyeri governorship.
They include incumbent Samuel Wamathai, Wahome Gakuru and Patrick Maina Munene.
OVERTURNED
In the fresh suit, Mr Mathenge argues that Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the Commission for University Education and Interpol cleared him of allegations that he had falsified his degree certificate.
He contends that in September 2016, Mr Tobiko wrote a letter to the High Court deputy registrar indicating that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the degree was a forgery.
Mr Tobiko, Mr Mathenge claims, also directed police to close the investigations file, which had been opened following the court order in 2013.
The businessman’s troubles began earlier this year after the Jubilee Party barred him from participating in its primaries over the same claims that he had fake academic credentials.
