Man arrested for allegedly forging academic certificates to secure gov’t job at KEPHIS

By , K24 Digital
On Sun, 28 May, 2023 08:39 | 2 mins read
Man arrested for allegedly forging academic certificates to secure gov't job at KEPHIS
Zinje Jumaa Mwadama, who is accused of forging academic certificates to secure a job at Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS). PHOTO/(@EACCKenya)Twitter

Officers from the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) on Thursday, May 25, 2023, arrested an employee of the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) for allegedly forging academic certificates to secure employment at the state parastatal.

According to EACC, Zinje Jumaa Mwadama forged four academic certificates to secure a job at the agency, thus, fraudulently pocketing Ksh4,746,834.38 in salaries.

KEPHIS is a government parastatal whose responsibility is to assure the quality of agricultural inputs and produce to prevent adverse impacts on the economy, the environment, and human health.

Mwadama is accused of forging a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate from the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), a certificate in Agriculture and Transcripts from Pwani University (formerly Kilifi Institute of Agriculture), and a Diploma Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development from Baraka Agricultural College, Molo.

"On Thursday, EACC arrested one Zinje Jumaa Mwadama accused of forging 4 academic certificates to secure a Government job at KEPHIS, thus, fraudulently acquiring Kes. 4,746,834.38 from the public being the cumulative salary earned on fake academic qualifications," EACC said.

The suspect was arraigned before Milimani Chief Magistrate Felix Kombo and pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of offences including forgery, uttering false documents, providing false information to a public entity, and fraudulent acquisition of public property being the salary earned.

The magistrate released the suspect on a bond of Ksh3 Million.

The case will be mentioned on 8 June 2023.

"Academic fraud has an adverse effect on the national economy and could compromise the integrity of Kenya's education system which is rated highly at the global and regional levels," EACC added.

EACC fake certificates crackdown

The EACC has intensified a crackdown on state officers linked to forgery in recent months.

Last month, detectives attached to EACC arrested a Garissa University official for allegedly forging his academic certificates to secure employment in the public institution.

EACC said Abdihakim Dagane Hassan forged a Business Information Technology degree certificate and transcripts from Mt Kenya University.

Hassan is accused of securing employment as a Senior Computer Technologist at the university using the forged academic papers.

He later secured admission and pursued a Master's degree in Business Administration (Management Information Systems) at Kenyatta University using the same papers, EACC said.

"He was arrested after the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) concurred with recommendations to charge him with forgery, deceiving principal, uttering false documents and giving false information to a person employed in the public service," EACC said.

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