[Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho (R) and president Uhuru Kenyatta. Photo/Courtesy]
Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho has come out to defend his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
This is after the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) claimed that Joho did not seat for the exams, but forged his KCSE certificate to vie for the county's governorship, in 2013.
However, principal Abbas Juma Ulaya released a letter, saying Joho was a student at the school and did his KCSE in November 1993 and not 1992 as Knec said.
Reports indicated he got a mean grade of D-.
Addressing the press in Mombasa, Tuesday afternoon, the ODM party leader said he got the said grade and nothing stopped him from pursuing his dreams.
"There are people who are not privileged to go to school or get good grades. But that does not stop them from pursuing their dreams. I pursued mine and that's why I have managed to transform Mombasa to where it is now,'' he said.
He revealed that he paid his own school fees due to his poor family background, and appreciated what he got in exams.
According to him, his life was so different from President Uhuru Kenyatta's since Uhuru grew up as a privileged child, with his family catering for his needs.
''I used to look for jobs after school, so as to feed my family and pay my school fees. This is so different from Uhuru's life since his father could make a single cheque that would educate him until postgraduate,'' he noted.
He warned that he would not be intimidated by threats from the government, saying he serves the people and had nothing against the government.