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2017 KENYA ELECTIONS

I got a D- and I’m proud of it, says Joho

Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho says he is proud of his secondary school KCSE results/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – Who thought that when he took to the proverbial pulpit on Tuesday to defend his Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education results, Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho would end up agreeing with President Uhuru Kenyatta, with whom he has been at odds?

Joho proudly declared that he scored a D minus in his KCSE exams and that he shouldn’t be ridiculed but celebrated for it on account of all he had to overcome, to attain it.

“From right when I was in primary school I supported my family in selling onions. And by the way, I had to wait for a while to raise the fees for admission to Serani Secondary School and when I did, at that young age, I’d leave school and look for work. For those who do not know, I worked as a porter here at the Old Port and I used to be paid Sh80 after loading every truck from those dhows that come from Somalia; carrying either scrap or TVs, whatever the cargo that was imported.”

And it was for this reason, Joho said, that he bore no shame for having scored a D minus and instead wore it as a badge of honour.

“I take pride, really, as a Kenyan to be what I am today. I want to inspire other Kenyans that I can’t gone through all I went through to put myself through school, get a D minus then give up and it becomes the end of the road for me. I’ve come from far yes, and I have faith I’ll go far. That is why you hear me all the time saying I have ambitions of being the President of this republic because my God has made it possible for me to be what I am today.”

“Others will say oh, explain the D minus. I take pride in my results in the year 1993 and I should be an inspiration to other Kenyans that not doing well in Form Four, doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for you, you can turn that around and that is what I have successfully been able to achieve. Any serious leader would want to use that to inspire the young generation who never made it for one reason or another. So as I stand here today, yes, I am a holder of a D minus but I have been able to change that into real progress. And so that you know, even now I am a student of an MBA.”

“And I urge other Kenyans, if you did not do well in your secondary education that is not the end of the world for you.”

It’s this exact message that President Uhuru Kenyatta had for students when there was unrest in secondary schools; blamed on the pressure of the mock examinations.

“A D is not the end of the world,” were the exact words he used.

As for the forged KCSE result slip bearing Joho’s name and the grade C+ which was flagged by the Kenya National Examinations Council, the governor agreed that yes, it must be forged but as a result of tampering with his file at the University of Nairobi.

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“Why would I want to forge my own certificate? Why would I do that?”

Joho said he would appear before the DCI on Wednesday to respond to these questions as well as pose a few of his own.

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