Four suspects have been charged with using forged credentials to secure jobs at the Moi Teaching and Referal Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret.
The four, Bethwel Kipkoech, Celestine Cherop Chepsoi, Eddah Cheptanui Boit and Jackson Kipkosgei were charged with the offences of forgery of academic certificates, making false documents, uttering of false documents and fraudulent acquisition of public property.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the four used forged documents to secure jobs at the government facility against the law.
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"Four more suspects who used forged credentials to acquire public service jobs at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital were yesterday arraigned at the Eldoret law courts," DCI stated.
The four pleaded not guilty to the counts and were released on Ksh100,000 cash bail or a bond of Ksh300,000.
This comes almost three weeks after another suspect, Joash Kimurgor Kirwa, was arrested and arraigned for allegedly using a forged degree certificate to secure a job at the Ministry of Education State Department for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
According to the DCI, Kirwa forged a Moi University degree certificate as well as academic transcripts which he used to secure employment with the Ministry of Education.
He was arraigned at Eldoret Law Courts where five counts of forgery were preferred against him.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a Ksh200,000 cash bail.
Ward administrator arrested over forged certificates
In February, detectives from the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) arrested the ward administrator for Marsabit Central Halkano Dabasso for allegedly having fake academic certificates.
According to investigations by EACC, the suspect used a forged Diploma in Community Development and Social Work, and a KCSE certificate to fraudulently gain employment in Marsabit County Government where he has been working since 2018. The Diploma is purported to have been issued by the Thika Institute of Business Studies.
EACC Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi said that besides charging the County Official, EACC will recover and return to the government all the salaries and benefits that the ward administrator has earned based on the fake certificates over the years, as his illegitimate employment amounts to fraudulent acquisition of public property.
"The arrest came after ODPP concurred with recommendations of the Commission to charge the ward administrator with the following offences; one count of Fraudulent acquisition of public property contrary to section 45(1)(a) as read with section 48(1) of ACECA, one count of deceiving principal contrary to section 412 as read with as read with section 48(1) of ACECA and two counts of Forgery contrary to section 345 as read with section 349 of the Penal code," Ngumbi said.
The suspect was also charged with two counts of uttering a false document contrary to section 353 as read with section 349 of the Penal Code.
EACC investigating fake academic papers
EACC announced in January that it had commenced investigations to smoke out Kenyans holding fake academic certificates.
EACC Chairperson Bishop David Oginde said the campaign targets all arms of the national government and county government departments to ensure that only qualified personnel are allowed in the establishment.
Cases of cheating and fake qualifications, he said, were on the increase with a good number of Kenyans securing public jobs, without the requisite qualifications.
“The cases are quite a number. We are finding a lot of reports from across the country and in different categories of government offices. It has come to us as something that we really need to work on,” Bishop Oginde said.
The chairperson said the issue of fake certificates was unethical and threatened to erode Kenya’s respect globally at a time when the government was reaching out to various nations to export labour.
