EACC Chair David Oginde Says Senior Leaders Use Fake Certificates To Get Jobs: "Fake Country"

• Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) chairperson David Oginde said there are increasing cases of Kenyans faking education certificates
• Oginde said the situation is so bad that even leaders are using fake certificates to get elected into office
• According to the anti-graft boss, many people have used fake papers to secure well-paying jobs both in private and public offices

Amos Khaemba, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi - Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) chairperson David Oginde has disclosed that many Kenyans possess fake education certificates.

Speaking to Citizen TV on Wednesday, December 6, Oginde equated the proliferation of fake certificates in the country to a pandemic.

David Oginde worried about fake certificates

Oginde claimed that many Kenyans purport to have a university degree, yet they do not.

According to the anti-graft chief, most of those with fake certificates have secured well-paying jobs both in private and public offices.

"Right now, I think if there is a pandemic, it is a pandemic of fake certificates. People purport to have a university degree which they do not have. They are getting jobs both in public and private offices. Some of them have senior jobs in government, but they have fake certificates.

We are becoming a fake country. The majority of them are people you do know; you get information that so and so has a fake certificate and got a job as a governor. The big deal is the people you know," Oginde said.

How two forged certificates to get jobs

In a related story, two government officials attached to the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC), who forged academic papers to secure jobs, were ordered to refund salaries paid to them.

Pauline Otieno and Lilian Ochieng were ordered by the Anti-Corruption Court sitting in Kisumu to pay the salaries they earned during the period that they worked.

The two were arrested and found guilty of forging academic certificates they used to get jobs at the government institution.

Magistrate Teresa Odera also fined Otieno KSh 228 698 or be jailed for two years and six months, while she ordered Ochieng to pay KSh 271, 901 or be jailed for three years and six months.

"Pauline Otieno and Lilian Ochieng were jailed for forging MKU and KISM certificates to gain employment. Pauline is to be jailed for two years, six months or pay KSh 228,698. Lilian is to be jailed for three years, six months or to pay KSh 271,901. each to refund all salaries earned on fake certificates," EACC said.