EACC chair warns against use of fake certificates for employment

By Peter Ochieng

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) chairman David Oginde has warned Kenyans against using fake certificates to land employment opportunities, especially in the government.

Addressing the press in Kisumu after meeting governor Anyang’ Nyong’o on Monday morning, Oginde said the commission has received numerous reports of Kenyans ‘cheating themselves’ into employment, by use of fake certificates.

The EACC chair said the ‘long arm of the law’ will eventually catch up with the ‘cheaters,’ no matter how long it takes. “The reason we are raising it is that we are finding a lot of reports from across the country, and in different categories of government offices. And so, it has come to us as something that we really need to work on,” said Oginde.

He continued, “One of the things that we really need to tell Kenyans is that if you get a job using a fake certificate, it doesn’t matter how long you will work in that particular job. When the arm of the law finally catches up with you, we will have to recover all the money you got as proceeds. Even if you worked 20 years, we will want that money that you earned 20 years. So, it is wise for you to not get in that situation.”

“There are people now we are dealing with, where we are claiming from them millions of shillings earned over a period of time,” he added.

He said when the right time comes, the suspects will have to lose all property invested in while earning from a job procured through a fake certificate. “Kenyans should just know that there is no benefit ultimately if you use a fake document to procure a job.”

Oginde said that some countries are now banning or suspending degrees from Kenya, due to rampant use of fake certificates.

Early this month, The Federal Government of Nigeria said it will extend the suspension of accreditation and evaluation of degree certificates to include those from Kenya, the Niger Republic and Uganda.

Nigeria’s Education Minister, Tahir Mamman, stated that security agents would go after those with fake certificates from foreign countries already using them to secure jobs in Nigeria.

“We are not going to stop at just Benin and Togo. We are going to extend the dragnet to countries like Uganda, Kenya, and even Niger here where such institutions have been set up,” he said.

Oginde thanked governor Nyong’o for supporting the commission in war against corruption, which has in turn led to recovery of various pieces of land which had been grabbed, among them Kibuye market.