BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
Ethics and Anti- Corruption Commission has commenced investigations against embattled Garissa Governor Ali Korane over his academic qualifications.
This follows a petition filed by Aden Muktar Bare, whose son Idriss was shot as he pursued the matter. Mr Bare filed a petition before the High court seeking to declare the Garissa Governor seat vacant arguing that Korane presented fake academic papers to be cleared for the gubernatorial race, thereby breaching the Constitution.
In a sworn affidavit, EACC investigator Kevin Langat says that preliminary investigations shows that Korane while seeking clearance of the commission to vie for the position of governor of Garissa county government in 2012 and 2017, he filed a self- declaration form indicating that he possesses a master’s degree from university of Nairobi.
The officer further says Korane later submitted to IEBC a copy of self-declaration form which he had presented to the EACC in 2017.
Langat said that preliminary investigations reveals that the said self- declaration form presented to IEBC shows that he possesses a master’s Degree and that highest qualification he holds is a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Diplomacy from Washington International University.
“A close analysis to some pages in the self-declaration from presented to IEBC reveals that the information was altered to remove MBA degree and replace it with Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Diplomacy from Washington International University. The commission is the process of investigating the same,” says the investigator.
According to the documents, it is said that University of Nairobi in a letter dated August 20,2018 denied issuing the MBA degree certificate to governor Korane and confirmed that the same was a forgery and that his name does not appear in any other the graduation booklet.
Langat has informed the court that upon competition of the investigations over the matters in question, the EACC will forward the report to the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji for further direction.
Bare through lawyer Charles Kanyama says that Korane breached the violated the Leadership and Integrity Act by filing and presenting certificates at IEBC during last year’s general election yet he does not possess the same.
He claimed while trying to get the true picture of the Governor’s academic qualifications for purposes of filing the petition, his son Idriss was shot in the head in a bitched assassination attempt on the night of August 19,2018 at White Star restaurant along Kandara Road in Kileleshwa, Nairobi county.
“During the course of investigations into the attempted assassination, which are still ongoing, it emerged that the respondent is a person of interest and the issue of is academic qualifications is also in question and has been investigated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations,” reads the court documents.
Bare said that he was reliably informed by the team of investigating the assassination of his son that once the issue of the renounced MBA degree certificate came to light, the governor unsuccessfully attempted to swap the invalid MBA degree with unauthentic foreign degrees namely Undergraduate Degree in International studies and Diplomacy allegedly from Georgia Washington University, Washington, USA (year unspecified) and Master of Science degree in police leadership and management allegedly from Leicester University (1995).
He said the attempted murder of his son was planned to silence him against pursuing the matter.
It is said that the governor through various media platforms has distanced himself from the issue of the invalid MBA degree certificate.
