Wanjigi disqualified by IEBC, cites bias and vows commission will not get away with it

Safina party presidential flagbearer Jimi Wanjigi was on Monday, June 6, disqualified by IEBC from contesting the presidency.

Wanjigi failed to produce a valid degree certificate – one of the constitutional requirements for the highest office in the land.

The billionaire businessman had offered a letter showing that he had cleared his coursework and was set to graduate in December this year.

Wanjigi took it out with IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati whom he accused of being part of a system that wanted him locked out of the ballot. He promised to take up the matter in court.

“I want to categorically state here that there is a plot and there are people who do not want to see others on the ballot, and you will not get away with it Mr Chairman. This is a country of laws, it is a country that we adhere with the constitution,” he stated.

In a dramatic turn of events, IEBC staff switched off Wanjigi’s microphone and asked him to exit the clearance hall and make his statements elsewhere.

Once outside, Wanjigi’s running mate, Willis Otieno – who also doubles up as his personal lawyer – made sensational claims that Jubilee was behind the so-called deep state system which was targeting Wanjigi.

He added that there was no legal basis for his presidential candidate’s disqualification.

“There is no legal basis upon which the Chairman can reject our application. It is very clear that Jubilee is trying to mutate itself into Azimio and Kenya Kwanza and continue controlling this country for the next five years.

“Jubilee is still trying to stifle our voices. In 2017, the Supreme Court stopped them but this time they are trying to control it from the beginning before we get there,” Otieno stated.

The lawyer differed with IEBC on Wanjigi’s degree stating that the law was flexible about the degree qualification, arguing that an equivalent of the same should be admissible. Otieno disclosed that the papers had been approved by the Commission on University Education (CUE).

“If you have finished your education and have gotten all the transcripts, the university has concluded you and given you a completion letter, it is as good as having a degree. CUE has written to the IEBC confirming this and at that point, the commission has no option but to clear you because they have to recognise it,” he added.