A heated debate erupted in the Senate on Wednesday after Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei questioned proposals requiring Master’s degrees for individuals appointed to public boards, arguing that a degree should be the minimum qualification instead.

Speaking during deliberations in the House, Cherargei said the proposed threshold was unfair and suggested that a degree, rather than a Master’s degree, should be the minimum requirement.

“Mr Speaker, on the issue of qualification, I have seen that they are saying people who should serve on the board are people who have Masters. Mr Speaker, that’s unfair,” Cherargei said.

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“Why don’t we use the bare minimum of a degree? Why Masters? We should have a degree because even, why are we unfair to Kenyans if in Parliament we have even Class Three dropouts who have been elected to Parliament?” he posed.

The senator further claimed that some elected leaders cannot read, write, or sign documents, a remark that immediately drew protests from fellow senators.

“We have even Class Three dropouts who have been elected to Parliament, who don’t know how to read and write, Mr Speaker, who don’t know even how to sign, and they are busy yelling and yapping all over the place. We need to be fair to Kenya. We are not holier than thou,” Cherargei added.

His remarks prompted an intervention from Nyamira Senator Okong’o Mogeni, who said the Nandi senator was making misleading statements and called for him to substantiate his claims.

“I don’t know what the Senator of Nandi has taken this afternoon because he is again making misleading statements,” Mogeni said.

He noted that existing parliamentary qualification requirements stipulate that candidates seeking elective office must demonstrate proficiency in either English or Kiswahili.

“You know that one of the qualifications for you to be elected as a Member of Parliament is that you must have proficiency in the English or Kiswahili language, but he’s making a statement on the floor that there are people who have been elected to this House who can neither read nor speak nor sign,” Mogeni said.

“That should not be on record when he is making that statement in this House, and I challenge him to name those three members for the public to know.”

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi then directed Cherargei to either substantiate his claims or withdraw them.

“Senator for Nandi, you may proceed to substantiate, failure to which you just withdraw and conclude your thoughts,” Kingi ruled.

However, Cherargei maintained that his remarks reflected what he described as “the obvious”.

“Mr Speaker, how can I substantiate the obvious? They are known. They can’t express themselves,” he said, before asking for more time to provide evidence.

“Yes, I can. Mr Speaker, can I get time to substantiate in the next sitting?”

Speaker Kingi subsequently directed the senator to substantiate the allegations by Thursday’s sitting.

“By tomorrow,” Kingi instructed.

Cherargei accepted the directive and said he would table evidence, including video clips.