The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Monday morning arrested a senior official of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) over allegations of forgery of her documents.
The suspect is alleged to have forged her academic certificates and used them to secure employment at the electoral body on April 4, 2012.
EACC Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi confirmed to the press that the suspect was a manager at IEBC.
The suspect was arrested at her home in Nairobi West and later escorted to the EACC Integrity Centre Police Station for further interrogation.
She was held at the Integrity Centre awaiting to be arraigned before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on the same day.
Preliminary investigations established that the suspect forged a Master of Arts certificate, making it appear as if it was a genuine certificate awarded by the University of Nairobi (UoN) on May 9, 2004.
“Investigations established that she forged a Master of Arts (Population Studies) degree certificate purporting it to be a genuine certificate awarded by the University of Nairobi on May 9, 2004,” Ngumbi stated.
It is reported that the suspect subsequently used the same certificate to obtain a promotion at IEBC earning a cumulative salary and benefits amounting to over Ksh37 million.
The act of securing a job position using faked documents constitutes a fraudulent acquisition of public property and renders it a criminal activity.
The official was apprehended after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) concurred with the recommendations of EACC that she be charged with the offences of forgery.
Forgery is an offence contrary to section 345 tied with section 349 of the Penal Code. Similarly, the suspect was charged of uttering a false document, contrary to section 353 of the Penal Code.
In addition to the criminal prosecution, EACC will proceed to file civil proceedings in court to recover all the salaries and benefits amounting to over Ksh37 million unlawfully earned by the accused person in the period he worked at IEBC.
