Fake Certificates in Kenya: Fraudsters Exploit Loopholes to Secure Jobs.
A government audit has exposed widespread certificate forgery among job seekers and public service employees in Kenya. Fraudsters have employed deceptive tactics, including altering grades, fabricating qualifications, and forging academic credentials to land jobs, promotions, and re-designations.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) verification exercise revealed shocking statistics—over 53,000 academic certificates were submitted for authentication, with 1,280 found to be fake. Some applicants manipulated their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) mean grades to meet hiring criteria, while others presented entirely fabricated documents despite never sitting the national exam.
Cases of degree classification upgrades—where individuals altered a “pass” into “first-class honours”—have also surfaced, alongside fraudulent claims of Master’s and PhD qualifications. Certain applicants even referenced institutions that later confirmed they had never been enrolled.
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The Ethics and Integrity Conference in Nairobi highlighted concerns over lax enforcement, with PSC chairperson Antony Muchiri criticizing judicial leniency toward individuals who falsify certificates to secure salaries from public funds. Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) investigations have identified 161 reports of forged academic papers among state officials, yet legal consequences remain limited.
By February 2024, the EACC had recovered Ksh12.8 million in fraudulent salary earnings. Head of Public Service Felix Koskei emphasized the importance of institutional accountability, citing that only 49 organizations had forwarded names of implicated officers for action. Additionally, four institutions submitted mismatched reports on confirmed forgery cases.
Koskei further called for a digitized verification system to streamline authentication processes and curb certificate fraud effectively.
Fake Certificates in Kenya: Fraudsters Exploit Loopholes to Secure Jobs.