A report released by the Public Service Commission (PSC) has revealed that 502 employees working in different sectors of the government used fake certificates to acquire jobs.
PSC evaluated the status of compliance of the public service in line with the Constitution in the Financial Year 2022/2023, highlighting 66 institutions within the service sector with cases of certificate forgery.
The report further analysed the statistics in terms of action taken on officers with forged certificates, ranging from the type of Certificates Forged, ongoing cases, and certificates per institution, highlighting those who have so far been dismissed or resigned involuntarily.
State Department for Internal Security and National Administration had the highest number of quacks with 107 cases, with 78 using fake KCSE certificates, 25 with fake diplomas and 4 with forged degree certificates.
Kenya Railways Corporation registered a total of 82 forged certificates cutting across certificates, degrees, diplomas, KACE, and KCSE.
Public universities registered notable numbers as the University of Nairobi recorded 4 diplomas, Garissa University 1 certificate, the Cooperative University of Kenya 6 certificates, South Eastern Kenya University registered 1, Rongo University and Kibabii University cutting across KCPE, KCSE certificates, diplomas and degrees registered 14 and 13 respectively.
Other notable departments include KEMSA with 16 cases, KMTC with 35 cases, and KPC with 24 cases, among others.
Public Service Commission (PSC) in October 2023 after launching a crackdown to flash out quacks, revealed that with verified cases of forgery, among other penalties, terminated contracts of the affected workers.
“MDAs with verified cases of forged or fraudulently obtained certificates have instituted disciplinary action including termination of service for affected offices,” PSC chairman Anthony Muchiri stated.
In 2021, the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) discovered that 250,000 civil servants, who made up 30 per cent of the workforce, had forged certificates.
KNQA then created a system to help the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) launch a crackdown on certificate forgery within the public service.
The authority was however barred by the court from implementing the plan due to a lack of public participation while developing the system.
