Row rages over Cord aspirant’s Malindi seat academic papers
ODM Malindi-by election candidate Mr Willy Baraka Mtengo (left) with Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mombasa Baptist High School principal Millicent Omondi availed a file indicating that Mr Mtengo was admitted to Form One at the school in 1987 but did not complete his secondary education there.
Another document at the school indicated that Mr Mtengo left the same year he was admitted in third term.
The controversy raged Friday as politicians from Jubilee and Cord flocked to Malindi to campaign for their candidates.
A row over the academic qualifications of the Cord aspirant for the Malindi parliamentary by-election raged Friday.
The opposition party claimed that “it was propaganda” that Mr William Mtengo’s qualifications were fake.
The story of Mr Mtengo’s alleged fake documents was carried in one of the papers Friday.
It cited documents allegedly showing that he forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and degree certificates to secure a job at the Kenya Ports Authority.
The law does not specify the level of education required for a candidate for a parliamentary seat but Mr Mtengo could land in trouble if someone accuses him in court of faking certificates.
Friday, the Nation visited Mombasa Baptist High School where principal Millicent Omondi made available a file indicating that Mr William Baraka Mtengo was admitted to Form One at the school in 1987 but did not complete his secondary education there. She could not say when he left and the circumstances.
“His admission number is 87112 but we have no document to show when he left. We have no result slip showing that he sat his final exams here,” said Ms Omondi.
Another document at the school indicated that Mr Mtengo left the same year in third term.
Deputy principal Silas Wafula admitted writing a letter indicating that Mr Mtengo had never been a student at the school.
The letter, signed July 2011, addressed “to whom it may concern” said: “This is to confirm that after a thorough search in the school records, the above named person has never been a student in this institution.”
But Friday, Mr Wafula said he wrote the letter in reference to Form Five files. “His name does not exist in those files but today we perused all the files and saw the admission. In fact I am required to write another letter rectifying what I wrote earlier,” he said.
The controversy raged Friday as politicians from Jubilee and Cord flocked to Malindi to campaign for their candidates.
The Jubilee team led by ODM rebel MP Gideon Munga’ro and Kinango’s Gonzi Rai, held a rally in Shella Ward for their candidate, Mr Phillip Charo.
The Opposition has been holding rallies led by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi.
The by-election has attracted eight candidates, among them Mr Reuben Mwamure (Kadu Asili), Mr Ahmed Mohamed (Agenda Party), Mr Yusuf Abubakar (Federal Party) and Mr Peter Ponda (Chama Cha Uzalendo).
Reports by Mohamed Ahmed, Charles Lwanga and Kazungu Samuel
