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Kenya has dropped the university degree requirement for people seeking to contest presidential, gubernatorial and parliamentary elections ahead of the country’s 2027 General Election.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has confirmed that candidates for president, governor or Member of Parliament will not currently be required to hold a university degree, following a court ruling that declared the relevant provision of the Elections Act unconstitutional.
IEBC Commissioner Ann Nderitu explained that the legal position means Kenyans without university degrees can contest the three elective positions, provided they meet all other constitutional and electoral requirements.
“As we start now, there is no requirement for a degree for anybody. That’s the situation we are in,” Nderitu said during an interview with Citizen TV.
The development follows a legal challenge to the degree requirement ahead of the 2022 elections. According to Nderitu, the court found that the provision conflicted with constitutional principles, including equality and public participation.
The court also considered Kenya’s relatively low proportion of university graduates when assessing the impact of the requirement. Nderitu cited figures from the 2019 population census showing that only about 3.5% of Kenyans held university degrees at the time.
She argued that making a university degree compulsory would have excluded a significant majority of Kenyans from contesting some of the country’s most important elected positions.
“According to the ruling then, it means that the rest of the Kenyan 96.5% cannot participate in elections for governor, for president and for Member of Parliament. Meaning then, that is discriminatory,” she said.
However, the removal of the requirement does not permanently prevent Kenya from introducing educational qualifications for elective office.
Nderitu explained that Parliament has the constitutional authority to prescribe qualifications for candidates. Any attempt to introduce a new degree requirement, however, would have to go through the proper legislative process, including public participation.
“Unless somebody goes to court, or we start the process of public participation and allow the degree requirement to come through the proper process, we will go by the verdict Kenyans return through that public participation,” she said.
She further clarified that until a valid new law is enacted, a university degree will not form part of the requirements for presidential, gubernatorial or parliamentary candidates.
“But a degree, as we start now, is not part of the requirement,” Nderitu said.
The clarification comes as political parties and prospective candidates begin preparations for Kenya’s 2027 General Election.
The decision could potentially widen the pool of eligible candidates, allowing Kenyans who do not have university degrees to seek some of the country’s highest elective offices, provided they satisfy the remaining legal and constitutional requirements.
The issue of educational qualifications is likely to remain part of Kenya’s political debate as the country moves closer to the 2027 elections, particularly if Parliament considers revisiting the matter through legislation and public consultation.
