Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has directed Police Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai  to launch investigations into the authenticity of all academic certificates submitted by aspiring candidates to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) for clearance.

This follows the opening of a probe into the genuineness of the academic certificates belonging to gubernatorial aspirants Wavinya Ndeti(Machakos) and Johnson Sakaja(Nairobi) to determine if the duo were involved in any criminal activities to obtain the papers to get clearance ahead of the polls.

Haji in his letter to Mutyambai asked that he widen the scope to all aspiring candidates ,in order to unearth any offences that may have been involved to acquire the credentials , in order to have them charged.

"…it is prudent to expand the scope of investigations beyond the two gubernatorial aspirants to include complaints against aspirants lodged with the IEBC and relevant government agencies, including complaints circulating in the digital, print and electronic," wrote Haji.

Further, he asked that any government agencies found culpable in aiding any aspirants to acquire the documents through forgery or any other unscrupulous means to be highlighted in the investigations.

The DPP noting the tight schedule of security and investigative agencies that are involved in election planning, gave the NPS two weeks to conclude the investigations.

"Considering that you are working with tight electoral timelines the resultant file should be submitted by July 1, 2022," he stated.

Earlier in the day, IG Mutyambai had directed DCI boss George Kinoti to conduct investigations into the authenticity and genuineness of Sakaja and Wavinya’s academic documents and establish whether there was indeed any offence committed that aided their acquisition.

“Owing to the constitutional and legal mandate bestowed upon it, the NPS has commenced criminal investigations into the genuineness of the certificates presented for clearance to the IEBC by two political aspirants, namely Hon Johnson Sakaja and Hon Wavinya Ndeti, both gubernatorial aspirants for Nairobi and Machakos counties respectively, and determine if any offence has been committed,” read the NPS statement.

“Consequently, the Inspector General of the NPS has directed the Director, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to conduct speedy investigations into such authenticity and genuineness of all the certificates, testimonials, and respective documentation presented to IEBC for clearance by the two aforesaid aspirants to logical conclusion.” the statement concluded.