Nairobi — Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi has expressed concerns that protracted disputes around the eligibility of aspirants to vie for specific political positions pose security risks if not resolved quickly.

Addressing the 18th Conference of Ambassadors and High Commissioners in Nairobi, he said the mobilization of supporters to agitate over clearly spelt out qualifications is causing tensions and straining security plans for the elections.

Matiangi's remarks come at a time when some political leaders including Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja are fighting to defend their university education qualifications after it emerged that some of them could be holding fake credentials.

On Wednesday, Sakaja insisted that he will be on the ballot for the gubernatorial race in August despite the controversy on his degree qualification even as he accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of frustrating his bid.

In a statement on his Facebook page, Sakaja maintained that his degree from Team University is valid and described what he termed as the "purported revocation of my credentials by the Commission for University Education (CUE) chairman as null and void, and politically instigated."

He also accused the Commission's chairman of being coerced and intimidated to illegally revoke recognition of accreditation that has been properly issued.

"On June 6, I presented my qualifications to the CUE for recognition. The commission conducted due diligence by first writing to their counterpart in Uganda, National Council for Higher Education, which in turn wrote to the university," he said.