Sakaja dares DCI boss Kinoti to arrest him

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja has dared the Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss George Kinoti to arrest him over claims that he is a suspect in an international criminal syndicate. This after Mr Kinoti said the senator and officials of Team University in Uganda, where the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate for the Nairobi gubernatorial race claims to have acquired a degree, are suspects in an international organised crime syndicate. “We will not surrender our capital city to frauds. We will involve all international agencies in investigating and prosecuting anyone involved in academic fraud,” Mr Kinoti told the Nation. But in his response, Mr Sakaja said he will not be intimidated and dared the DCI boss to make good his threats. "Threats of arrest and persecution by the state will not intimidate us or change the will of the people of Nairobi. Our resolve remains firm. Bwana DCI Kinoti, I'm at my Riverside office, karibu or let me know if you'd like me to come over," Sakaja said. "Your office will not install a project on the people of Nairobi. My qualifications are legit and the relevant institutions have refused to play along with your games. Let the people decide," the senator went on. Mr Sakaja has been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to contest for the top county seat but is currently battling several petitions touching on his academic qualifications. The petitions include those questioning his academic qualifications and specifically a degree he says he acquired from Teams University in Kampala. The said degree has since been revoked by the Commission for University Education (CUE). If found guilty of forging his academic degree certificate and transcripts, Mr Sakaja faces a three-year jail term. But even as the embattled senator fights to clear his name, he has received support from Deputy President William Ruto, who on Thursday lashed out at the authorities, demanding that Mr Sakaja be left alone. “I am telling my competitors and my former (political) party Jubilee. Please leave Sakaja alone,” Ruto said during a campaign rally in Nyamira County. “Sakaja has gone to school and we have seen his papers. Stop taking him round in circles. The deep state and system are making calls all over the place. They have even called State House in Uganda while looking for means to stop Sakaja from contesting for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat,” the DP said.