The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has charged a former Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Limited (NCWSC) employee accused of forging academic certificates, which she allegedly used to unlawfully obtain public funds.
In a statement on Monday, October 10, the Ethics and Anti-Graft Commission (EACC) said that the former employee used forged KCSE certificates to secure employment at the water company as an ICT assistant and acquire public funds amounting to Ksh8.3 million from the company.
According to EACC, investigations revealed that the certificate presented by the former employee initially appeared to have been issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) but was fake.
"Upon completion of the investigations, the Commission forwarded the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who reviewed the evidence and approved the charges against the suspect," the commission stated.
"Asembo appeared before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court, where she faced multiple charges, including fraudulent acquisition of Ksh8,337,563.95 from NCWSC, deceiving a principal contrary to Section 41(2) as read with Section 48(1) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003, forgery contrary to Section 345 as read with Section 349 of the Penal Code, and uttering a false document contrary to Section 353 of the Penal Code," it added.
According to the commission, the former official was initially arrested on September 3 but was later released on a cash bail of Ksh25,000, pending arraignment on September 5, 2025.
She, however, failed to appear for an arraignment in court on September 5 and went into hiding, prompting the court to issue a warrant of arrest.
During her arraignment, the former official denied all the charges and was released on a Ksh1 million bond, according to the commission.
"She was released on a bond of Ksh1 million with two sureties of a similar amount. EACC reaffirms its commitment to combating fraud and safeguarding integrity within the public service sector," a statement from the commission said.
The arraignment of the individual comes barely a week after the same court fined another senior clerk at the institution for also using a falsified KCSE certificate to gain employment in 2011.
His forgery enabled him to remain in employment for over a decade, during which he earned over Ksh8 million in salaries and benefits.
He was sentenced to pay a fine equal to the amount lost, Ksh8,243,562, or serve four years in prison.
Additionally, the court imposed fines of Ksh100,000 each for the charges of deceiving a principal and presenting a false certificate, or an alternative two-year sentence for each charge.
