Kenya has removed the requirement for a university degree to contest for president, governor or Parliament in the 2027 elections after court rulings found the qualification unconstitutional, opening the country’s top elective offices to a much larger share of the population.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) says it currently has no legal basis to demand a university degree from candidates seeking the presidency, governorships or parliamentary seats in the 2027 election.
The development follows court decisions that struck down the university-degree requirement contained in Kenya’s Elections Act, effectively removing a major educational barrier to political participation.
IEBC Commissioner Ann Nderitu said the previous requirement had excluded a substantial majority of Kenyans from contesting for elective office. According to figures from the 2019 census, only about 3.5% of Kenya’s population had attained a university degree. This means the former requirement potentially excluded about 96.5% of Kenyans from seeking some of the country’s most important elected positions.
The change is particularly significant ahead of Kenya’s 2027 general election, when voters will elect the president, members of Parliament and county-level leaders.
Nderitu said the IEBC could not continue enforcing a university-degree requirement after the courts had declared it unconstitutional. Any attempt to introduce a new educational threshold would have to come through Parliament and comply with the required legislative and public-participation processes.
Kenya Now Like Several Other African Countries
Kenya’s decision brings its presidential eligibility rules closer to those of several other African democracies, including Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, where a university degree is not a legal requirement for becoming president.
In Nigeria, the Constitution sets the minimum educational requirement for a presidential candidate at School Certificate level or its equivalent. Section 131 of the 1999 Constitution requires a presidential candidate to be a Nigerian citizen by birth, be at least 35 years old, belong to a political party and be sponsored by that party, among other requirements. It does not require a university degree.
Nigeria’s political disputes have frequently focused on the authenticity and provenance of candidates’ academic records rather than whether presidential aspirants possess university degrees.
President Bola Tinubu, for instance, has faced renewed scrutiny over educational documents submitted to Nigeria’s electoral commission in connection with his 2023 presidential candidacy. Tinubu has maintained that he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Chicago State University, while questions over aspects of his educational records have continued to generate political and legal controversy.
Ghana’s Constitution requires presidential candidates to be Ghanaian citizens by birth, at least 40 years old and qualified to be elected to Parliament, but does not prescribe a university degree.
South Africa similarly does not require a university degree to become president. The country’s constitutional system makes the presidency dependent on election to the National Assembly rather than possession of a particular academic qualification.
Uganda has a somewhat higher formal educational threshold. Presidential candidates must be qualified to serve as members of Parliament, while parliamentary candidates are required to have attained at least an Advanced Level education or its equivalent.
