By:Robert Mutasi
A two-year investigation into a forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate has ended with the arrest of a 54-year-old man in Changamwe, Mombasa County.
Awange Oscar Akoth was arrested on Monday by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) following investigations into the alleged forgery and use of a fraudulent KCSE certificate to secure employment at the Kenya Railways Corporation.
According to the DCI, the case came to light after Kenya Railways Corporation undertook a comprehensive authentication exercise of academic and professional certificates presented by its employees as part of its integrity vetting process.
During the exercise, Akoth’s KCSE certificate, purportedly issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) in 1993, was flagged for further scrutiny after officials noticed inconsistencies.
Verification by KNEC subsequently confirmed that certificate number 624785, which Akoth had presented, had been forged.
Detectives established that grades in three subjects had allegedly been altered from D (Plain) to C (Plain), while the mean grade had also been tampered with, changing it from D+ (Plus) to C (Plain), in an apparent attempt to meet the minimum qualification threshold for employment.
“The suspect had altered his grades to make it appear that he had attained a mean grade of C Plain, which qualified him for employment, while in reality he had scored D Plus,” a detective privy to the investigations said.
Following the investigations, the case file was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for perusal and directions.
Upon reviewing the evidence, the ODPP directed that Akoth be charged with two counts: Uttering a False Document, contrary to Section 353 of the Penal Code, and Fraudulent Acquisition of Public Property, contrary to Section 45(1)(a) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (ACECA).
With the suspect having remained at large after learning he was being sought, detectives launched a manhunt that trailed him to the coastal city of Mombasa. Their efforts paid off when they finally caught up with him and arrested him in Changamwe.
Akoth is currently undergoing processing at the DCI offices pending his arraignment before the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, where he will answer to the charges.
The arrest is part of a wider crackdown by government agencies on employees who secured jobs using forged academic certificates. In recent years, several parastatals including Kenya Railways, Kenya Ports Authority and the Ministry of Interior have embarked on certificate verification drives that have seen hundreds of employees flagged.
The DCI has warned that those found to have forged academic documents will be arrested and prosecuted, and will be required to refund salaries and benefits earned irregularly.
“Forgery of academic certificates is a serious offense that undermines meritocracy and integrity in public service. We will continue pursuing such cases to their logical conclusion,” the DCI said in a statement.