Recent exposes by Kileleshwa MCA aspirant and Kenya’s most popular blogger Robert Alai targeting obscure academic qualifications of leaders such as Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala and Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa is a complex matter that may not spare any side of the political divide.
Politicians from various parties and their non-political associates and affiliations may come under genuine scrutiny and disguised political witch-hunt in equal measure.
Should elected leaders necessarily possess the highest levels of education? I believe not. For centuries, charismatic individuals with less or no formal education have made phenomenal political and business leaders, sometimes outperforming better-educated leaders. Similarly, people with little or no formal education are responsible for various groundbreaking inventions that changed the world.
Notwithstanding, to make certain that the minimum stipulated qualifications for today’s electoral leadership standards are adhered to, the IEBC can borrow and localise certain candidate vetting practices like those implemented by the Elections Department Singapore, and South Korean National Election Commission.
One such concept involves sharing details of candidates’ information directly with voters to improve the transparency of the vetting process. In South Korea for instance, once the National Election Commission clears candidates, it dispatches mail deliveries in the form of thick envelopes to every voter’s registered address.
Enclosed in the parcel are more than just the electoral code of conduct and voting procedure bulletin. Domestic and foreign data relating to the candidate's educational background, property including those of immediate family members, tax payment, employment history, any criminal backgrounds, or charges even if law courts had exonerated the candidate, and more data.
In my view, the above approach achieves two main goals. First, it enables the South Korean NEC to validate candidates whose integrity voters can verify. Secondly, on the off chance that a candidate had concealed crucial damning information which NEC investigators could not scan out, sharing candidate information with voters may unearth such crookedness.
The NEC may then disqualify the candidate before the election date or take away their seat if elected. And based on the case, the candidate may face legal charges if criminally culpable.
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