On November 21, 2018, the Supreme Court expunged two affidavits from its record in the academic papers dispute involving Wajir Governor Abdi Mohamud. The documents had been sworn by senior officials of Kampala University and were meant to support his claim that he studied and graduated there.
The affidavits were signed by founding vice chancellor Badru Katerega and academic registrar Hamza Ssegawa. They stated that Mohamud was a student at the institution between 2009 and 2012.
The bench led by Chief Justice David Maraga, alongside justices Mohamed Ibrahim, Jackton Ojwang’, Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndung’u and Isaac Lenaola, had earlier allowed Mohamud to place his academic certificates before the court. The judges said he had not been given a fair hearing before the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
But the court later found that the two affidavits had been filed out of time, and for that reason removed them from the proceedings.
Mohamud had told the court that he was admitted to Kampala University through a letter dated July 29, 2009. He also relied on affidavits from former classmates Ahmed Mohamed Isaack and Yussuf Shueb Abdullahi.
In addition, he filed another affidavit from Ssegawa confirming that he studied and graduated at the university. A separate affidavit from Evans Somoni, who served as academic registrar from 2005 to 2011, said the governor had been admitted as a student.
The governor further submitted affidavits from lecturer James Nyakweba and former lecturer Wairimu Kiragu, both of whom said he attended their classes.
The dispute over Mohamud’s academic credentials had already drawn in multiple witnesses and university officials, with the latest ruling narrowing the material the Supreme Court would consider.
