Revealed: Major cover-up in fake academic papers probe

Hundreds of civil servants who landed their jobs fraudulently continue to receive pay from government coffers despite being unmasked for using fake certificates.

In a major cover-up, most of those who have survived the purge are highly connected people and relatives of politicians.

Parliament, one of Kenya’s best paying institutions, is among the most affected, with the Parliamentary Service Commission unable to fire hundreds of staff found to lack requisite qualifications.

“We are still with them here [certificate cheats]. Nothing has happened because the numbers are large,” a senior parliamentary officer told the Star.

Last year, the Star exclusively reported how the commission had unearthed a massive academic scam following a review it initiated.

In the audit, Parliament verified the authenticity of the KCPE, KCSE, diploma, degree and master’s certificates held by its staff.

At least 200 employees, including directors and deputy directors, some with a few years to retirement, were implicated in the forgery of academic papers. However, it has emerged the number has since increased.

Political interests, efforts to protect Parliament’s image and revelations that some of those implicated are children and relatives of “who is who” in society have clipped Parliament’s wings.

“Would you want to touch the child of a former minister or vice president, for instance? That is the challenge. It is deep,” the source said.

About 1,300 people are on the parliamentary payroll. This excludes staff in MPs’ constituency offices.

Apart from Parliament, there are many senior civil servants within the entire civil service who continue to earn salaries despite being outed.

There are also concerns the Public Service Commission is yet to expose the full extent of the rot.

According to the commission, more than 1,000 civil servants had fake academic papers in the period to December 30, 2024.

The 2023 review also unearthed 2,000 cases. In 2021, the Kenya National Qualifications Authority, the state agency involved in vetting academic certificates, announced nearly 250,000 civil servants possessed fake certificates

. The authority’s bid to crack down on culprits foundered after the exercise was stopped by a court.

“Our estimate is that 30 per cent of the certificates are fake. It’s very unfair that I sit in a university for four years, and someone else just gets a similar certificate in five minutes,” then KNQA director general Juma Mukhwana told the press.

According to the PSC report, state corporations had the highest number of fake certificates at 598.

Kenya Railways, as per the report, had the highest number of officers with fake certificates at 127. Another 116 were found at public universities.

Constitutional commissions and independent offices had 65 staff with fake certificates, nine at statutory authorities, and 36 at TVETs. For fake professional certificates, there were 34 cases at commissions, 13 at ministries, 46 at public universities, and 67 at state corporations.

The 2024 compliance report, however, reveals that unspecified action was taken on only 744 staff, with the rest yet to be dealt with conclusively. The commission disclosed that 449 officers were dismissed from public service, 181 resigned and 26 have since retired.

The PSC says 10 went through a disciplinary process – whose nature is not stated - while disciplinary processes for 70 staffers were still ongoing.

Another 79 officers were under investigation, while action for 15 was not indicated in the reports submitted to the commission.

Earlier, President William Ruto directed that those with forged certificates should leave the public service.

Before their bitter fallout, his then-deputy Rigathi Gachagua, promised to spill the beans of leaders with fake degrees.

He claimed the implicated individuals were looking for him to intervene so as not to be fired. The PSC has set a June 30, 2025 deadline for state agencies to authenticate papers of their staff.

“All public institutions to authenticate certi cates for all their staff since the date of joining service,” the PSC recommended in its report tabled in Parliament.

Of the 150 agencies 30 per cent of the public institutions - that had not verified the certificates, 100 promised to conclude the review by June 30, 2025.

Another 32 said they would authenticate by March 31, 2025 while 18 did not provide timelines.

Going forward, the commission wants state agencies to authenticate certificates before they issue appointment letters at entry level.

The commission says papers should be veri ed before individuals are considered for promotional appointments. Public institutions are required to terminate the service of any officer found to have used forged certi cates and forward the names to EACC.

It is also emerging that institutions are not making complete disclosures to the anti-graft agency.

Only 43 of the 49 institutions that reported to PSC that they had forwarded a list of officers with fake certificates EACC provided evidence of the same.

There are pointers to a cover-up amid grumbles that some of the concerned are untouchable, thanks to their godfathers.

Four institutions submitted lists that were inconsistent with the number of officers who were found with fake papers in the respective institutions.

They are Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kenya University Teaching and Referral Hospital, Tana and Athi-River Development Authority, and Technical University of Kenya.

“It could not be confirmed whether six institutions submitted a list of names of officers found in possession of fake certificates to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Public Service Commission,” the PSC said.

Anti-graft agency EACC has cited public servants who use fake papers to secure state jobs and promotions.

Its quarterly reports have cited cases at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, National Police Service, Nairobi Water, and Kenya Rural Roads Authority.

Employers are concerned that the proliferation of fake papers risks compromising the quality of service delivery.

Federation of Kenya Employers CEO Jacqueline Mugo said the incidents point to a poor value system in the country.

“We need to put a deterrence to this malpractice that locks out deserving persons from jobs they qualify in,” she said.

EACC disclosures pointed to a deputy principal of a TVET in Samburu who was under probe for alleged falsification of academic certificates.

Cases of alleged academic cheats were also cited at Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi Water; Kiambu, Kisumu, and Wajir county governments, IEBC, and Commission on Revenue Allocation.

Among the alternatives the authorities have given the targeted staffers is that they return all monies earned as salary from the irregularly acquired positions.

 Several people have been charged and sentenced by courts, detailing the huge number of academic cheats.

In March last year, PSC, EACC, and DCI joined hands to weed out public officers with fake academic papers.