A member of the County Assembly of Kiambu was on Wednesday, October 2, exposed for allegedly forging academic documents.
The Daily Nation reported that Robert Githongo had used fake papers to enrol into a programme at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
Githongo, who also doubles up as a pastor at the African International Pentecostal Church, stands accused of forging a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) slip and using it to join JKUAT to pursue a diploma.
“The investigations commenced following an anonymous report that the suspect, a Member of County Assembly representing Kiamangwi ward used a forged KCSE certificate to enrol for a diploma certificate at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology,” a notice in the Kenya Gazette read.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) directed that Githongo be arrested.
The cleric had submitted his papers to the EACC as part of Section 13, of the Leadership and Integrity Act claiming he was a diploma holder.
“Investigations revealed that the suspect applied for and was admitted to study for a Diploma in Governance and Leadership using a 1997 KCSE certificate from Murera Secondary School and subsequently graduated on 25/11/2016. Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) confirmed that the KCSE certificate was fake and the University’s senate on 24/7/2017 withdrew the diploma certificate issued to him,” the notice read.
JKUAT also confirmed that Githongo’s diploma was withdrawn after they had been informed of his KCSE Certificate being fake.
The university added that it had sent a report to KNEC requesting authentication of the certificate which they discovered had been forged.
Githongo had presented the certificate to JKUAT indicating that he had scored a C+ mean grade from Murera Secondary School.
This comes as EACC also investigated Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja for having allegedly fake academic documents.
In an article by Daily Nation in April 2018, Samboja is said to have presented forged academic papers to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) before the 2017 general election.
Kenyatta University, where Samboja claimed he graduated from, discounted his claim and assured that he was never a student in the institution.
