‘Do not celebrate!’ Lawyer Nelson Havi issues chilling warning after IEBC drops degree requirement for 2027 election candidates
By Dan Kauna, August 24, 2026Former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi has cautioned Kenyans against celebrating the news that a university degree is no longer a requirement for elective seats in the 2027 General Election.
Reacting to IEBC Commissioner Ann Nderitu’s remarks, Havi took to X to warn that the development benefits political leaders more than ordinary citizens. “Do not celebrate. Even the least educated Member of National Assembly takes his/her Children to the best schools in Kenya and the World,” he wrote.
He added that lawmakers “know the value of what they do not have,” and accused the political class of pushing “to have an illiterate electorate.”
What Nderitu said
Nderitu made the clarification during an interview on a local TV station on Sunday, August 23, 2026.
She explained that courts had declared the degree requirement in the Elections Act unconstitutional, meaning IEBC cannot currently enforce it against aspirants for president, governor and Member of Parliament seats.
“As we start now, there is no requirement for a degree for anybody. That’s the situation we are in,” she said.
The clarification reopens a long-running debate on academic thresholds for public office.
IEBC National Steering Committee Chairperson Evans Masiti had earlier pushed for Parliament to legislate clear academic standards for candidates, while IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon has said the commission is taking its time before reintroducing the matter to avoid another legal setback.
Havi’s own political stakes
Havi’s remarks come as he pursues his own bid for the Westlands parliamentary seat in the 2027 election, a race he first contested in 2022 on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, losing to incumbent Tim Wanyonyi.
He has since left UDA for Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) as he eyes a second run for the seat, which Wanyonyi is vacating to contest the Bungoma governorship.