Two Catholic bishops have called for the resignation of politicians with forged academic certificates on account of insincerity to the electorate and lack of integrity values required in a leader. The Catholic bishops said it was unfortunate that the country was being led by corrupt politicians who rose to power using fake credentials and continue to hold their offices and show no remorse to voters when their dishonesty is finally exposed.
The two Bishops: Paul Kariuki (Embu) and Peter Kihara (Marsabit) also demanded for careful scrutiny of the academic papers of sitting and aspiting political leaders to rid the country of unscrupulous fraudsters.
They said it was unfair for elected leaders to continue enjoying the benefits of leadership that come with their political seats while thousands of educated youths suffer in unemployment, yet the whole nation was aware that they obtained their positions through fraudulent means.
Speaking at Ishiara, Embu County during a graduation ceremony for St. Augustine Teachers’ Training College added that the fight against corruption was futile if the leaders who should spearhead the war against graft were the same people implicated in forgery and still held plump positions.
The Bishops at the same time demanded an apology from every leader implicated in forgery of any document to boost their chances of rising to power, terming the vice as an insult to the thousands of voters who trusted them with political offices, oblivious of their dishonesty.
In the same breath, Catholic University’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Justus Mbae challenged the Commission for University Education (CUE) to enforce regulations governing the award of degrees and crackdown on falsified academic certificates to safeguard the quality of university education in Kenya.
The don cautioned that allowing politicians to attain degrees through the backdoor would be a clear pointer to failure of systems and institutions entrusted to streamline the education sector through implementation of checks and balances.
