By Sheila Mutua and Brian Okoth
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has announced a nationwide crackdown on fake academic certificate holders holding positions in formal employment.
The DCI says it will work with the Kenya National Qualifications of Authority (KNQA) to mark out the fraudsters.
The two agencies’ bosses met on Tuesday, February 9 at the DCI Headquarters on Kiambu Road in Nairobi.
Dr. Kilemi Mwiria; the chairman of KNQA, Dr. Juma Mukhwana; the Director-General of KNQA, and George Kinoti; the DCI Director, attended the meeting.
The trio agreed to form an inter-agency team to handle fake certificates fraud in Kenya.
Dr. Mwiria said holders of the fake academic documents have gotten formal jobs at the expense of deserving and well-educated employment seekers.
“We are working with all stakeholders to eradicate this practice that is denying Kenyans with genuine academic documents, an opportunity to benefit from their hard work in school,” said Dr. Mwiria during the meeting.
DCI chief, Kinoti, said the special team formed to handle the task is experienced in dealing with academic fraud.
He said DCI has been dealing with the cases and it will be happy to partner with KNQA.
Dr. Mukhwana observed that KNQA needs prosecutory powers to deal with Kenyans who present fake academic documents during recognition and verification.
“We used to turn away people with fake academic qualifications and now with the partnership, the authority will hand them over to DCI,” said Dr. Mukhwana.
Dr. Mukhwana added it will be important to work with county governments and other state agencies in order to vet academic certificates of their workers.
‘One million fake cert holders‘
Dr. Mukhwana disclosed that a third of Kenyans have fake academic documents and, therefore, the need to take action against such individuals. Kenya has approximately 3 million people in formal employment. Going by Dr. Mukhwana’s revelation, about 1 million formal job holders are therefore possessors of fake academic certificates.
The KNQA Director-General further said the authority is working together with learning institutions to ensure that learners are admitted in programmes that they qualify to study.
“We are working together with universities, TVET and foreign institutions to ensure that the country has genuine and quality qualifications,” said Dr. Mukhwana.
KNQA has already met with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Immigration Services Department for partnership.
The Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) and the Immigration Services Department have agreed to partner in order to stamp out fake certificates.
Fake pilot, HR manager and medic
The agencies’ concern comes amid increasing cases of academic fraud being reported in Kenya. Recently, a commercial pilot with 8 years’ experience was discovered to have been flying Kenyans with a doctored KCSE certificate, and with no valid pilot’s license.
One week ago, a human resources manager working for a government agency was discovered to have worked for eight years with fake undergraduate degree and KCSE certificate. Earlier this week, a fake anesthetist was discovered to have worked at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital for eight years without possessing necessary academic certificates.