• Petitioner questioned the authenticity of Korane’s master's of Business Administration, said he lied about qualifications.
• The governor argued application is a really an election petition disguised as a constitutional matter of his eligibility to contest.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Garissa Governor Ali Korane has evaded questions challenging the authenticity of his master's degree.
He contends in court documents that the petition filed in November last year is actually an election petition against him masked as a constitutional challenge to his qualifications.
The governor argued that the court is not mandated to hear the election petition against him.
A governor candidate is only required to have a bachelor's degree, however, he said he had a master's.
Korane did not address the question of the legitimacy of his degree, only saying he presented all required documents to the IEBC, which ascertained their validity before he contested.
The case is set for hearing on July 28.
The petition was filed by the father of former Garissa Finance executive Idriss Aden Mukhtar, who is comatose after he was shot in an assassination attempt on August 19.
Aden Muktar Bare said his son was in the process of filing the challenge to Korane's academic credentials when he was shot.
He wants the court to declare the gubernatorial seat vacant, arguing Korane violated the Leadership and Integrity Act by presenting fake academic credentials.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in September last year filed an affidavit indicating that Korane's master's degree is invalid after the University of Nairobi said Korane was not on its list of graduates.
IEBC officer Kevin Lagat said preliminary investigations also showed discrepancies in the self-declaration form.
"When he contested for the position of the governor, Korane declared in page two that he had an MBA certificate from the University of Nairobi," Lagat said.
"However on page three, he contradicted himself when he said his highest qualification is a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of Washington."
The officer said a closer analysis showed the information was altered to remove the 'Master's' and replace it with' Bachelor's 'degree.
The University of Nairobi through a letter dated Aug 20, 2018, denied issuing the MBA degree certificate.
“The university said the governor’s name does not appear in any of its graduation booklets,” Lagat said.
Korane said the petitioner's argument is a challenge to the election process and should be presented as an election petition. He filed the petition through his lawyer Ahmednasir Abdikadir.
"The court does not have the requisite jurisdiction to hear and determine the issues that have been raised by the Petitioner herein," he said.
“No court other than an election court has the power to remove a governor from office after his election. That power of an election court must also be exercised within the strict timelines prescribed by law.”
The governor said the IEBC was qualified to handle the case though it cannot remove him from office.
“The constitutional mandate to impeach a governor is assigned to and is vested in the County Assembly and the Senate,” he said.
(Edited by N. Mbugua)