The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Monday, March 11, ordered the immediate stoppage in the channelling of salary payments to civil servants with forged papers.
EACC issued the order following the publishing of a report by the Public Service Commission (PSC) showing the proliferation of unqualified persons in the public sector securing jobs using fake documents.
In its latest directive, the EACC mandated all public institutions to verify the academic and professional certificates of public officers working within their ranks.
EACC in a circular remarked that investigations had shown that some public institutions were allowing staff with active academic forgery cases to resign or proceed on early retirement.
According to the anti-graft body, the institutions go on to process payment of terminal benefits without following the law.
"To this end, the Commission advises that all accounting/authorized officers should not process benefits including; pensions or unpaid allowances and accrued leave to persons found to have used fraudulent academic qualifications to gain employment in the public service," EACC Chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak directed.
Should government organisations discover that one of their employees had fake certificates, they were instructed to file a report immediately with the EACC.
EACC issued the directive barely a month after warning that certain government institutions were protecting civil servants holding forged papers.
The anti-corruption body issued the warning after The Public Service Commission (PSC) Report on Authentication of Academic and Professional Certificates indicated that there were over 2,000 public servants with forged certificates.
PSC noted that the widespread forgeries had negatively impacted service delivery as well as the nation's education and economic advancement.
The recent directive will affect workers both in the national and county governments.
