Transgender woman Audrey Ithibu Mbugua had been battling Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) in the corridors of justice since 2012.
Audrey’s row with KNEC is based on her identity, she took KNEC to court wanting the exam body to change her name from Andrew Ithibu Mbugua to Audrey Ithibu Mbugua on her certificates.
Audrey was born male, he attended primary school, high school and university as male. He however felt uncomfortable being male after university and he decided to transition to female.
Audrey’s court battle with KNEC has seen lower courts rule in her favor but KNEC kept appealing the rulings in higher courts. In June 2019, Justices Philip Waki, Gatembu Kairu and Otieno Odek of the Court of Appeal upheld a decision by High Court directing KNEC to change Audrey’s academic certificates to reflect her new identity.
In a recent interview with Nation, Audrey confirmed that KNEC has since changed her academic certificates to reflect her new identity.
“I have finally received my KCSE certificate indicating my correct three names. Early this month, KNEC had issued me with the certificate but it did not have my surname. I requested for the inclusion of the name and I got it today,” said Audrey Mbugua.
