The Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) have been called to swing into action and probe the questionable academic certificates held by Homabay County Assembly speaker Mr. Julius Gaya.
The revelations that Gaya’s academic papers are fake emerged after whistleblowers produced copies of the same to back up theIR allegations. The fake papers are forgeries from Kampala university in Uganda and Kenya Institute of management (KIM) in Kenya.
Interestingly, the KIM certificate he puports to have rightly earned was issued in1999 to one Carolyne Wanjiru who is the original owner.
All attempts to reach Speaker Gaya for comments were futile as has chosen not to respond to phone calls from journalist seeking clarity on the matter. His close allies have also revealed that the he did not seat for his secondary school final exams, meaning his KCSEcertificate is also fake.
Gaya shivered from defending Central Karachuonyo ward seat and chose campaign for Governor Gladys Wanga and her deputy Oyugi Magwanga to reward him with the speaker job. His move was informed by the fakeness of his papers as feared that the electoral commission would not clear him to run.
The former MCA joins the long list of top Kenyan politicians with fake academic papers including former Mombasa governor Hassan Joho. The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) in 2017 revealed that the certificate showing that the drug tainted politician attained a C+ in 1992 was fake. Claims that he gained entry at the University of Nairobi, and dropped studies, then later transferred to Kampala International University where he earned his degree were also fake.
Former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu’s academic qualifications were also flagged by William Kabogo, his political competitor who revealed that Waititu used certificates belonging to his brother who graduated from Panjab University in India and not him.
EACC and the Commission for University Education have warned politicians with fake academic certificates that they will face full force of the law.
“We authenticate certificates both from local and international universities. This is a warning to both leaders and individuals who will be found possessing fake academic papers that they will be nullified,” CUE stated.
