IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati can be trusted to keep a secret, especially if his life depends on it.
Following demands by Kenyans to see Raila Odinga’s degree certificate, Chebukati has admitted that the degree is a matter of national insecurity, and showing it to the public means that the safety of the said public cannot be guaranteed.
“Raila presented to us a degree certificate and we confirmed that it is genuine. That is all Kenyans need to know. Nobody needs to see it because it is there, it is genuine, and it has worked for Raila. Those demanding to see a copy of it have no idea of what they are wishing on themselves.”
He further added that only a few people close to Raila, and family members, know the actual details of the degree.
“Even at IEBC, only Wafula Chebukati has access to the Mechanical Engineering degree that Raila Odinga presented. Other commissioners are not allowed to see it because they are either too young or do not have the capacity to handle sensitive national security matters. It is encrypted with a 256-bit encryption so even if it was handed to your above average journalist, no one can decrypt it.”
Mysterious Degree
Raila began his career as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi in the 1970s. This was after he acquired a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in Germany. Before that, he is known to have been in Maranda High School and no details exists between his high school and master’s degree. It is one of the largest information blackhole.
Efforts to track his students at the University of Nairobi proved futile because the institution does not remember the exact classes that he taught. When pressed further, the University said that Raila has really changed and it is not easy to remember how he looked like when he was young. This is why his students have a hard time remembering him.
IEBC was responding to a request by disqualified presidential candidate Jimmy Wanjigi to show the degree certificates of all the candidates who were cleared.
