Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa has demanded Sh100 million in damages from a Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) official over social media publications questioning his academic qualifications and doctoral studies.
Through lawyer Danstan Omari, Barasa has issued a two-hour demand to Stephen Mutoro to retract and pull down all posts concerning his educational history, academic qualifications and PhD studies.
In a demand letter dated September 21, 2026, Omari said Mutoro had, between September 14 and September 21, published statements on Facebook and other social media platforms which allegedly portrayed Barasa’s academic qualifications as questionable, fraudulent, irregular or improperly obtained.
The lawyer said the publications had also created the impression that Barasa was not qualified to undertake doctoral studies, was irregularly admitted to a PhD programme and had gone through an improperly supervised academic process. Barasa, through his lawyer, described the allegations as false and defamatory.
Omari said Barasa’s academic records show that he sat for his KCSE at Kimilili Boys Secondary School in 2000 and obtained a mean grade of B-. He subsequently pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration at Mount Kenya University, graduating with Second Class Honours, Upper Division, in August 2021. He then undertook a Master of Arts in Public Administration and Management (Public Policy) at the same university, completing the programme in December 2022.
The lawyer argued that Barasa’s academic progression was consistent, saying he moved from a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration to a master’s degree in the same broad field before proceeding to doctoral studies.
According to the demand, Barasa was granted provisional admission to Murang’a University of Technology in January 2023 for doctoral studies in Public Administration. His academic records, the lawyer said, show that he subsequently underwent various stages of the PhD programme, including concept-paper presentation, proposal defence, data analysis and results presentation, seminar and journal-paper presentations and an oral thesis defence.
It says the university’s Directorate of Postgraduate Studies issued him with a letter dated June 16, 2026, confirming that he had fulfilled the requirements for the award of a Doctorate in Public Administration, with the degree expected to be formally conferred at the university’s next graduation ceremony.
Omari said the academic records demonstrate that Barasa’s doctoral studies took approximately three and a half years and involved multiple stages of academic assessment. The demand letter states that the publications had allegedly exposed Barasa to public ridicule, suspicion and damage to his personal and professional reputation.
Barasa has consequently demanded that Mutoro remove and retract the publications within two hours of receiving the letter and pay Sh100 million in damages. Omari warned that failure to comply within the stipulated two hours would lead to the institution of legal proceedings against Mutoro.
