• The Wiper Party candidate gave a bit-by-bit breakdown of her higher education journey at the London South Bank University and the City University of London.
• She said the UK system of Education is different from the Kenyan system such that it’s possible for diploma graduates to acquire Master’s degree without undertaking an undergraduate course.
Image: FILE
Machakos gubernatorial aspirant Wavinya Ndeti has blamed ignorance on the part of those questioning the authenticity of her degrees.
In an interview on Spice Fm on Monday, the Wiper Party candidate gave a bit-by-bit breakdown of her higher education journey at the London South Bank University and the City University of London.
She said the UK system of Education is different from the Kenyan system such that it’s possible for diploma graduates to acquire a Master’s degree without undertaking an undergraduate course.
“I think it’s a lack of understanding... You should just check these things,” she said.
Ndeti said while at South Bank University, she undertook a certificate in business systems analysis and design, then acquired a graduate diploma then an advanced diploma and later studied for a graduate diploma in computer studies in a span of four years.
“With a graduate diploma, it’s even higher than a degree or equivalent to a degree, I was able to go to City University to do my Masters."
Ndeti said after leaving City University, she pursued a Master of Science in Business systems analysis and design and graduated in 1992.
She said after the graduation, she had her firstborn child and shortly after returned to London South Bank University to convert her graduate diploma into a bachelor’s degree.
Ndeti said her late Nigerian husband Dolamu Oduwole was the one who enlightened her about the conversion of a diploma to an undergraduate degree.
“You know these people (Nigerians) are very well educated and my husband just told me instead of having this graduate diploma, why don’t you just go and convert it into a Bsc?” she said.
The conversion, she explained, required her to undertake just one year of studies.
“I was given credit on some modules because I had spent four years doing my certificates, my diploma (and) my advanced diploma.
“With those credits, I was only able to do one year then I did a project and then my graduate diploma was converted into a Bsc in 1995.”
“I even went to Heriot-Watt University to do my MBA,” she added.
Two Machakos voters, Gideon Ngewa and Kisilu Mutisya had filed a petition with the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission seeking the revocation of Ndeti's clearance over claims she was unqualified to contest for the governor seat.
The Election Act makes it mandatory for persons seeking the seat to be holders of a degree from a university recognized in Kenya.
The petitioners said Ndeti's academic certificates are questionable and inconsistent and wondered how she was able to acquire a Master's degree before a Bachelor's degree.
"Undertaking a degree after being awarded a Master's is equally problematic. The degree in Computing Studies awarded by South Bank University to Ms Ndeti raises a number of issues," the complainants said.
"Computer Science is the universal course title for this field of study. Indeed, the graduate Diploma awarded to Ms Ndeti by South Bank Polytechnic London some five years earlier in 1990, was for Computer Science. It is very unlikely that the University would have changed the degree title to Computing Studies in a span of five years," the voters argued.
On Sunday, Ndeti got a reprieve after IEBC's Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) cleared her to vie for the Machakos governor seat.
The DRC in its ruling said it lacks the jurisdiction to ascertain the authenticity of her degrees.
Despite the reprieve, Ndeti's documents are still under investigation after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations opened a probe on all aspirants whose academic credentials have been called to question.
Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji directed the Inspector general of Police Hillary Mutyambai to submit the report on the investigation on July 1, 2022.
Ndeti has termed her woes as a smear campaign aimed at tainting her image
“Being a woman, I have gone through so much, I have developed a thick skin.”
She said her opponents have for long been trying to waste her time through pointless legal injunctions to derail her political ambition.
Ndeti made reference to 2017 where she claimed she was taken to court more than seven times on grounds that she was not a bonafide member of the Wiper Party on whose ticket she unsuccessfully vied for the Machakos governor seat.
“From that, I learnt, so this time I did not even waste my time going to court because I know my documents are very okay."
“But one thing I believe there is God in heaven. If Jesus went through so many things and today he sits at a very beautiful place, who am I?" she posed.