3 Govt Employees Arrested For Forging Academic Certificates To Land Jobs

• DCI reported that John Onyango allegedly altered the grades he got at Starays Community Centre to achieve a D+ grade
• Adan Bagajo and George Ereng submitted KCSE certificates from schools that were not registered as examination centres during the years they mentioned
• The trio were employed as drivers at the Sports, Arts, and Social Development Funds (SASDF) before their apprehension

Nancy Odindo, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics, news, and feature stories across digital and print media in Kenya.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have apprehended three individuals employed at the Sports, Arts, and Social Development Funds (SASDF) on allegations of falsifying their academic certificates.

John Onyango Odhiambo, aged 44, Adan Bagajo Lamma, also 44, and George Ereng Lotieng, aged 35, who served as drivers, were arrested for allegedly presenting counterfeit academic credentials to secure their positions and potentially elevating their pay grades.

Where did Onyango, others get their certificates?

The investigative authorities have disclosed that the suspects purportedly submitted forged academic documents to the employment body, despite having discontinued their education.

"John Onyango had submitted a falsified 2011 KCSE certificate from Starays Hope Community Center, Nairobi, while Adan Lamma presented a counterfeit 1998 KCSE certificate from Marsabit Boys High School despite having dropped out in Form Two.

Similarly, George Ereng Lotieng submitted a forged KCSE certificate from St. Marks Boys High School, Cherangany, where he had also dropped out in Form Two," said DCI.

How did the suspects falsify their certificates?

According to a report from the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), it was found that Onyango altered the grades of all subjects he had undertaken to attain a mean grade of D+, meeting the qualification threshold for the job.

Regarding Adan and Ereng, their alleged examination centres, Marsabit Boys and St. Mark's Boys High School, respectively, were non-existent in 1998 and 2010, the years they claimed to have taken their exams.

"Such was the case with George Ereng, whose alleged centre of examination (St. Mark Boys High School) did not exist as of 2010, and the code indicated in his certificate (401057) belonged to a different school, Ruthimitu Secondary," DCI explained.

The trio will be arraigned at Milimani Law Courts on Friday, May 25.

PSC lists over 2,000 forgery cases

Meanwhile, in a report compiled by the Public Service Commission in February 2024, over 2,000 Kenyans were found to have submitted forged documents to land jobs.

According to the report, the majority of the suspects were found in the Ministry of Interior, Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Geothermal and Development Corporation, a parastatal under the Ministry of Energy.

PSC chairperson said the commission undertook an authentication exercise on academic credentials, whose initial findings showed the suspects secured jobs, promotions, and re-designations using fake papers.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke