For 10 years she held the job with the fake papers and was paid more than Sh3 million as salary.
It wasn’t just the KCSE and higher education papers that she took but also her sister’s identity card.
The woman would have continued enjoying the benefits had the sister not sought a job with the Trans Nzoia government.
During cross-checking, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission says it discovered that the two shared details.
“Investigations established that the two are siblings. The one working at TSC was using her sister’s name, ID card and KCSE certificate,” the EACC says.
As a result, the anti-graft agency is going after the salary she earned on the job from October 2010 to December 2020.
Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Mulele has concurred with the EACC that she should be prosecuted.
According to the EACC’s latest quarterly report, the anti-graft commission recommended that she be charged with fraudulently obtaining public property and knowingly using a false document.
The woman also faces prosecution for uttering a false document, impersonation and unlawful possession of an ID card.
Her case is not unique. Hundreds of others in low cadres and top jobs, some in international roles, are under active investigations by the authorities.
Among the notable names under probe include a sitting MP from Bungoma county who claims to hold a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering allegedly issued by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
The DPP has ordered further investigations into the matter.
In its initial report to the DPP, the EACC said its probe established that the MP was never admitted to JKUAT and that he used the fake degree to obtain registration as a graduate engineer by the Engineers Registration Board.
A quick analysis of the active cases reveals that Garissa county stands out as harbouring the highest number of employees with fake papers.
An officer at Garissa’s protocol department is in similar hot soup after a probe established that his degree certificate allegedly from UoN was not authentic.
Garissa, where the CEO of the region’s water company was arrested over fake papers, has another case at the Social Services Department.
An officer at the department is accused of forging his degree certificate, claiming it to be a genuine one issued by UoN.
He also claimed to possess a diploma certificate from an institution neither registered nor lawfully existing in Kenya.
An officer at the county who allegedly forged a diploma and KCSE certificate to secure the job is also on the graft sleuths' radar.
The Public Service Commission, after a recent authentication drive, reported that it found 625 employees with forged certificates, bringing the cumulative cases to 744.
“Most of the forged certificates reported were from state corporations and SAGAs [semi-autonomous state agencies] at 76.3 per cent and ministries and state departments at 17.9 per cent,” PSC said in its latest compliance report.
Following the review, 58 officers resigned, six took early retirement, 181 were dismissed from service and 252 others have ongoing disciplinary cases.
The PSC wants the 744 cases of forgery forwarded to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and EACC for further action.
“We will recover all the money such individuals have earned through the fraudulent processes,” EACC chairperson David Oginde told journalists in Kisumu after a visit to the county offices, emphasising that the cases are rampant.
An employee at the Rural Electrification Authority has to refund Sh1.5 million she was paid for four years on a fake diploma certificate.
The employee is suspected of having forged papers purporting to be from Mount Kenya University and Murang’a University College.
The suspect supposedly presented transcripts from MKU and a diploma certificate from the university college. EACC says the officer never stepped in either of the institutions.
The EACC is pursuing a community development assistant at one of the water companies, who has earned Sh3.1 million for eight years until January 23 without papers.
She is suspected of having forged KCSE and diploma certificates purporting them to be from KNEC and Nairobi Aviation College respectively.
A senior employee with the Turkana government is under probe for presenting a forged degree certificate allegedly from JKUAT.
In notes to the DPP, the EACC says it wants the official to pay Sh3.16 million for the period commencing December 2018 to May 2021.
The EACC wants a forensic audit of all employees in the county "to avoid persons with fraudulent documents from holding offices."
In Muranga, a chief officer is accused of presenting a fake degree certificate alleged to be from the University of Nairobi to secure the post.
Detectives would later discover that the suspect was not a graduate of Education at UON as he purported.
A Tharaka Nithi government official is also under probe for altering grades for three subjects in their Kenya Certificate of Education certificate. The official sat for the defunct KCE in 1987.
An engineer at the Roads ministry whom EACC arraigned recently is believed not to have stepped in an engineering class at the University of Nairobi as he claimed.
The engineer is accused of forging academic papers to secure employment at the government of Kiambu.
He is suspected to have used the fake degree to enrol for post-graduate, master and PhD courses at JKUAT – all of which were withdrawn and classes discontinued.
A senior official at the Kenya National Commission for Unesco is also under probe after it emerged someone else filled out their background check form.
“Investigations revealed that the suspect uttered a background check form that contained false information,” EACC said.
Despite not attending a master’s class, a general manager at Rerec presented an MBA degree certificate to secure the post.
The EACC says investigations established that the suspect forged the degree certificate purporting it to be a genuine one issued by the UoN.
In Bomet, a protocol assistant and a clerk who forged documents are under probe on charges they presented forged papers to the county’s public service board.
“They both received salaries after being employed by the county, hence amounts to fraudulent acquisition of public property,” the EACC said.
A director at an authority is also accused of forging their BA Economics certificate. An employee at Kephis is reportedly in a similar predicament.
