Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Daily Nation
Published on 2024-01-29 11:24:21
Kenya Railways (KR), Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) are among the State entities that have dismissed 202 out of 650 staff who were found to have forged academic documents in order to secure their jobs. The Public Service Commission (PSC) reported that an additional 58 staff who were found with fake academic papers chose to resign in the year leading up to June 2023.
The report from the PSC highlighted that a substantial number of civil servants managed to secure jobs and promotions using forged academic and professional papers. Specifically, KR terminated the employment of 55 staff members, including two individuals who claimed to have degree certificates, while KMTC sacked 35 staff members and the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) dismissed 16 employees. Other state institutions involved in dismissing staff due to forged documents included the Geothermal Development Company, the National Construction Authority, and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service.
The CEO of PSC, Mr. Simon Rotich, informed Parliament that 58 officers resigned, six took early retirement, 181 were dismissed from service, and 252 had ongoing disciplinary action based on the findings of the authentication exercise. He also noted that a majority of the forged certificates were found in State corporations and Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies, followed by ministries and State departments.
PSC issued directives to State organizations to terminate the service of any officer found to have used forged certificates to secure appointment or promotion. Additionally, the report stated that KR and MTRH are each processing 27 cases of forged documents, while the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Postal Corporation of Kenya are scrutinizing nine cases involving staff who used fake academic documents to secure employment.
In conclusion, the PSC report shed light on the prevalence of forged academic documents within various State entities, prompting actions such as dismissals and resignations. It also emphasized the importance of organizations authenticating academic and professional certificates used by officers to secure appointments and promotions.
