Former KEPHIS Employee Ordered To Pay KSh 5m For Forging Academic Papers

• A former public servant found guilty of using fake academic papers to secure employment was fined KSh 5 million
• The accused, Zinje Juma Mwadama, was an employee of the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS)
• Court documents showed that Mwadama had a fake Diploma in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development from Baraka Agricultural College

Nairobi—An anti-corruption court has fined a former Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) employee KSh 5 million.

This is after he was found guilty of securing employment using fake academic papers at the institution.

According to the Tuesday, August 20 ruling, the employee, Zinje Juma Mwadama, will have to serve an 8-year imprisonment term if he fails to pay the fine.

How much has former KEPHIS employee earned?

Mwadama was fined KSh 100,000 or 12 months imprisonment, in addition to a mandatory fine of KSh 4,746,834.38 or 5 years imprisonment.

This is equivalent to the net salary he earned from KEPHIS during the period he served.

During the hearing of the case, prosecuting counsel Susan Keli told the court that between June 26, 2013, and April 24, 2021, the accused, while employed as an assistant inspector II, fraudulently acquired a public property with KSh 4,746,834.38 from KEPHIS.

Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzyoki also sentenced Mwadama to a fine of KSh 200,000 or to serve two years imprisonment on two counts of providing false information to a public entity, contrary to Section 46(1)(d) as read with Section 46(2) of the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012 Laws of Kenya.

Which documents did former KEPHIS employee forge?

According to court documents seen by TUKO.co.ke, on February 8, 2013, at KEPHIS, Mwadama provided false information on his employment application form, claiming to have a Diploma in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development from Baraka Agricultural College and a Certificate in Agriculture with Distinction from Kilifi Institute of Agriculture, claims he knew were false, intending to secure employment.

Magistrate Nzyoki ruled that all sentences will run consecutively from the date of judgment, July 30, 2024.

How many government employees have forged papers?

Previously, TUKO.co.ke reported that the Public Service Commission (PSC) released a report on the use of fake certificates by Kenyans to attain employment.

PSC disclosed that some public servants in critical government agencies acquired jobs using forged certificates.

According to the report, the majority of public servants with forged academic documents work for 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.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke