Ugandan Court Okays Investigations into Senator Sakaja’s Team University Degree

The High Court in Uganda has dismissed a petition seeking to stop the National Council of Higher Education (NCHE) from investigating Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja’s degree from Team University.

The Kampala-based university wanted the court to stop NCHE from investigating whether Sakaja studied and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Management (external) degree from the institution.

But in a ruling on Friday, the deputy registrar of the Ugandan High Court Mamson Karemani said the application by Team University did not stand the waters.

“I do believe in NCHE’s submissions that indeed the investigations were stopped and at the moment there is no ongoing investigations,” said Karemani.

The registrar noted that the NCHE had suspended investigations following an earlier court order but already the matter was being probed by the Inspector General of Police in Uganda.

The ruling comes after the High Court in Nairobi on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking Sakaja’s disqualification from the Nairobi gubernatorial race over the validity of his academic qualifications.

Justice Anthony Mrima ruled that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) disputes resolution tribunal did not err in clearing Sakaja to vie for Nairobi governor in the August 9th elections, and dismissed the petition on the basis of lack of proof.

While dismissing the petition filed by Denis Wahome, the judge noted that there was no sufficient evidence to shift the evidential burden from the petitioner to Sakaja.

“The evidential burden shifted to the petitioner. Even by considering the evidence in the affidavit that was struck out by the tribunal, there was no evidence to support the allegations leveled against Mr. Sakaja. The tribunal did not err in dismissing the complaint for lack of proof,” said the judge.

Wahome filed the petition at the High Court after the IEBC disputes resolution committee dismissed his complaint against Sakaja's clearance to run for office. The tribunal ruled that it lacks jurisdiction to determine the validity of Sakaja's degree certificate.

In his petition, Wahome argued that Sakaja's Bachelor of Science in Management degree from Team University in Uganda is not genuine as he never graduated from the institution in 2016 as he claims. He added that only six students graduated with a Bachelor's degree in science in management on October 21st, 2016, and Sakaja was not among the graduands.

But Justice Mrima ruled that the IEBC does not have legal powers or mandate to verify the authenticity of documents submitted by aspirants.