Meet Kenyan presidential aspirant with 6 degrees, wants to legalise bhang
The name Prof George Wajackoyah does not pop up when you search for top politicians in Kenya, his country of birth.
What comes up next to his name, however, are his many academic papers, his liberal stand on marijuana and the threat to suspend the Kenyan supreme law – the constitution, immediately “I take office”.
Wajakoyah is not a comedian but a presidential candidate in Kenya’s forthcoming general election – on August 9.
Before he announced a second stab at the presidency, very little was known of him. A former street boy whose parents separated when he was just three once lived in London where he used to earn a living as a grave digger.
Wajakoyah was sneaked to London in a cargo plane, as an asylum seeker after escaping from detention following a fallout with the then regime.
By then, the former intelligence officer (CID) had only two Diplomas – in French, from the Kenya Institute of Administration and the University of Burundi.
Almost 30 years later, Wajakoyah, the man who lived under a new identity in the UK, is now a professor with seven degrees, one of them a PhD.
But before he accumulated his papers, Wajakoyah once worked as a security guard and a grave digger. Before that, he had been working as a police officer in Kenya, only for his fortune to change from bad to worse when he sought asylum in London.
While in London, he was forced to change his name to conceal his identity. At one point in time, he had to live in the home of mentally challenged citizen in an attempt to hide from Kenyan intelligence, a department that he once served before he severed ties with the ruling party – KANU.
Top of his academic papers is a PhD from Walden University and four Master’s Degrees.
He has a Master’s degree of Laws in Laws in Development (University of Warwick, UK), Masters in Law from USA (University of Baltimore), Masters of Law (LLM) (SOAS University of London) and a Master of Philosophy at Walden University.
He also holds a Bachelor of Laws from the Universities of Wolverhampton (UK), a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law, a Postgraduate Diploma from Maastricht University and also boats of a certificate in Economics and Refugee law at World University Service United Kingdom.
His first academic paper was a certificate in policing and criminal investigation at the Kenya Police Training College. He then got a Diploma in French at the Kenya Institute of Administration which he later advanced at the University of Burundi on a government scholarship.
George Wajakoya and her running mate. 
George Wajakoyah
Wajakoyah also studied for a certificate course in Comparative Laws at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), then Legal Practice Course LPC at the University of Westminster (UK), Criminal/Civil Litigation (American Heritage University of Southern California), Security and Intelligence Studies (CID Training school –Kenya) and Laws of Kenya at Riara University.
But while reading his academic credentials can give you a migraine, he has promised to legalise bhang (weed) if he takes instruments of power in Kenya.
The “Roots Party” presidential candidate is expected to give top candidates like ex-Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto, a run for their money.
The former undertaker has promised to create employment by allowing consumption (for medicinal purposes) and sale of marijuana both locally and internationally. He argues that hemp, a chemical found in canabis sativa is a medicine that can cure several diseases and that the economic value of bhang can save African countries from over reliance on foreign debts and grants.
