Machakos gubernatorial candidate Wavinya Ndeti is next in line in the degree controversy that has dogged Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, as the police has now stated that it will not take lightly the concerned raised over the genuineness of academic certificates presented before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Comission(IEBC) for clearance to vie in the August 9 polls.

Through a statement released on the National Police Service(NPS) social media pages, criminal investigations have been launched to ascertain whether the two legislators' academic credentials are genuine to determine whether they committed any crime to obtain the papers for clearance.

"Owing to the constitutional and legal mandate bestowed upon it, the NPS has commenced criminal investigations into the genuineness of the certificates presented 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 offences have been committed," the statement read.

Police Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai has called on DCI boss George Kinoti to conduct speedy investigations into the authenticity and genuiness of all the certificates, testimonials and documentation presented before the electoral body for clearance by the two aspirants.

Wavinya has maintained that she holds a valid bachelor’s degree, and that the petitioners who filed a dispute before IEBC who claim she lacks tertiary education were bent on disrupting her bid.

Her academic credentials were disputed before the IEBC’s Dispute Resolution Committee by two Machakos County voters identified as Gideon Ngewa Kenya and Kisilu Mutisya.

The two claim that Ndeti does not have a university degree.

“Ndeti is not a holder of a degree recognised in Kenya. On November 6, 1992, she was purportedly awarded a Master’s Degree in Business Systems Analysis and Design by the City University, London without having undertaken the first degree," they stated.

"Undertaking a degree after being awarded a Master’s in a closely-related subject is equally problematic. The degree in Computing Studies awarded by South Bank University to Ms Ndeti raises a number of issues," the petitioners added.

Sakaja on his part has until 10 a.m of Monday, June 20 to present the ten items demanded by the Commission of University Education as evidence to back his claims that he studied at Team University in Uganda and that his degree was valid.