Kilifi North MP Owen Baya has defended Kilifi governor candidate Aisha Jumwa, saying the Malindi lawmaker has a genuine degree certificate.
The authenticity of Jumwa's degree certificate has been questioned with some two Kilifi voters moving to court to have her blocked from running for governor.
It is a constitutional requirement that all candidates running for governor have at least a university degree.
Speaking in Kilifi on Thursday, Baya said Jumwa’s degree is not only on paper but also in her head.
Baya said he helped tutor Jumwa while she was pursuing her degree in leadership and theology at the International Leadership University in Nairobi.
Baya is a former lecturer at Pwani University's Kilifi campus.
“I was the first person to cast doubt on Jumwa’s degree in 2018 but she came to me and told me that she had no degree but had enrolled for one. She asked me to tutor her because she could not pay for the professors to offer her private tuition,” he said.
“Because I had taught at university, I held her hand and I used to encourage her to attend classes and she used to pass by my house every time after classes.”
He said his house is next to the university.
The MP said Jumwa’s academic journey is an inspiration to many girls who have given up in life and it is something to emulate.
“Jumwa did her primary education in Takaungu and was called to join Ganze Secondary School, which is now Ganze Boys’ High School. When she was in Form 2 her father married her off,” Baya said.
“The marriage later collapsed and she ventured into politics where she was elected as the councillor for Takaungu in the now-defunct Kilifi town council. She was elected as the chair of the Kilifi town council.”
She later enrolled as a private candidate and sat for the KCSE but she did not score a grade to enable her to join the University.
“When she was elected Kilifi Woman Representative, she enrolled for a certificate course in leadership and governance at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology before enrolling for a diploma course. After completing her diploma she did her degree and graduated in 2020,” he said
Baya said the pathway to Jumwa’s degree is easy to follow and verify.
He was responding to concerns over the authenticity of Jumwa’s degree by ODM leaders from Malindi.
He challenged the leaders to interrogate the validity of their Kilifi governor candidate whom he said has no valid degree.
“If you live in a glass house you should be the last person to throw stones,” he said.
Baya said the education system in Kenya cannot allow someone who did not do an A level in the education system preceding KCSE to enrol for a University degree.
“I was a lecturer and many people came with division one certificates at O level and wanted to do degrees but the law is very clear. So let them tell us where their candidate got his degree,” he said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
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