"Why Kabogo and I didn’t meet at Punjab despite attending same varsity"-Waititu:

Kiambu County Governor Ferdinand Waititu says his predecessor William Kabogo was his senior by four years during their study days – in the 1980s – at Punjab University in India, hence the reason their paths never crossed at the institution.

Waititu’s statement comes on the back of allegations that he did not pursue his undergraduate studies at the university, given Kabogo was a student at the institution around the same time the county chief claims he was there.

“Governor Kabogo went to Punjab University four years ahead of me. So, there was no way we would have shared a class; and, by the time he came back to the university [for his certificates], he did not know that I was there,” Waititu told Citizen TV’s Jeff Koinange on Wednesday, January 30.

Kabogo had, in the run-up to 2017 general election, punched holes on Waititu’s academic qualifications, accusing Waititu, at the time, of forging his academic papers.

Kabogo, however, lost a court case in which he had sued Waititu over his [Waititu’s] academic background.

Punjab University would, later, confirm that one Clifford Ndung’u Waititu was their undergraduate student in the 1980s; and that he qualified for the award of Bachelor of Commerce degree after he successfully completed his course.

The name Clifford, however, raised eyebrows among people, who, for the longest time, knew Waititu as Ferdinand.

He, however, explained the mix-up on JKL.

“I am Clifford. I took an affidavit to that effect. As a result, there shouldn’t be confusion,” he said.

Waititu acknowledges he was named Clifford Ndung’u Waititu at birth, but changed his name to Ferdinand in a bid to try and get a job as a police officer.

“I took the name Ferdinand because I wanted to become a police officer. I cheated about my age so that I could be recruited. I wanted to drop out of school and join the forces. However, when my pursuit was unsuccessful, I went back to my old name – Clifford,” he said.

“I have, to a significant extent, been referred to as Ferdinand because of the original ID that I took, which contained that name,” he said.

Waititu says he “used a students’ passport to travel out of Kenya in the 1980s”, hence the reason it was difficult to retrieve his travel records from back in the day.

Waititu, currently, holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Human Resources option from the Kenya Methodist University. He graduated on October 14, 2017.