The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has commenced investigations to smoke out Kenyans holding fake academic certificates.
EACC Chairperson Bishop David Oginde said the campaign targets all arms of the national government and county government departments to ensure that only qualified personnel are allowed in the establishment.
Cases of cheating and fake qualifications, he said, were on the increase with a good number of Kenyans securing public jobs, without the requisite qualifications.
“The cases are quite a number. We are finding a lot of reports from across the country and in different categories of government offices. It has come to us as something that we really need to work on,” Bishop Oginde said.
The chairperson the issue of fake certificates was unethical and threatened to erode Kenya’s respect globally at a time why the government was reaching out to various nations to export labour.
“Some countries are already beginning to blacklist our degrees and this would not be good for the young people of this country. If you are going to get a job out of the country and you present your papers and they are not trusted it will jeopardize our move to export labour,” he said.
Speaking in Kisumu after paying a courtesy call on Governor Prof. Anyang Nyong’o, the Chairman said any person found holding office with fake academic certificates will face the full arm of the law.
“What I want Kenyans to know is that if you get a job using a fake certificate it doesn’t matter how long you work in that particular job. When the long arm of the law finally catches up with you, we shall recover all the money you got through that process,” he said.
EACC, he added, was already claiming millions of shillings from Kenyans who have been found holding public office with fake certificates, adding that the purge will continue.
The agency, he said, was now targeting assets acquired by those found culpable to ensure that taxpayers’ money paid to the individuals is recovered.
Bishop Oginde said EACC was equally actively investigating cases of illegal payments in both national and county governments.
The menace, he said, was rampant with officers siphoning billions of shillings through non-existent trips and seminars.
He lauded their partnership with the Kisumu county government, which he said has been very instrumental in the recent recovery of lost public land and money.
By Quinter Atieno and Jesica Achieng
