Waititu changed from Ferdinand to Clifford to get a degree

Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu is not the Clifford Ndung’u Waititu named in his academic papers, William Kabogo has said, sparking fresh controversy.

The Star obtained documents alleging Mr Waititu is using academic certificates belonging to Clifford. Mr Waititu applied for change of name in the run-up to the 2013 general election. He adjusted his name from Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu to Ferdinand Clifford Ndung’u Waititu.

Kabogo said in a suit on Monday that “Ferdinand Ndung’u Waititu, whose birth was registered on January 4, 1980, cannot be the same person as Clifford who sat CPE at Mbagathi Primary in 1975.”

The Kiambu Governor claimed the MP changed his name in 2013 to acquire all academic papers needed to vie for gubernatorial seat. Kabogo said Waititu should be charged with identity theft and barred from contesting for any public office for breach of the penal code and gross violation of the constitution.

Clifford’s index number at Mbagathi Primary School was 5209047. He proceeded to Dagoreti High School in 1981 and later to Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, in 1985. Waititu maintains he was in Panjab University, SGGS College from 1985 to 1988; where he graduated with second class honours upper division in Bachelor of Commerce.

A copy of the degree certificate from the university that the Star has seen bears the name Clifford, and identifies his parent as Waititu Ndogi, same as Waititu’s. “It is therefore a fact that for 51 years of his life, he has never changed his name and has always been known by the same name in all his interactions and transactions,” Kabogo said.

Kabogo argues that Waititu “does not have any qualification past primary school education and that he did not go to India for higher education”.

Through lawyer Issa Mansur, the High Court has been urged to direct appropriate agencies to probe the MP, should he be found to have made false declarations under oath. Other high-profile politicians who have in the past had their education questioned include former Lands minister Charity Ngilu, former Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.