Ex-Gov’t official arrested for allegedly forging 4 academic certificates to get job

A former senior official at the Kenya Plant
Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) has been arrested and charged over
allegations of forging his academic documents in order to secure a job.

Zinje
Jumaa Mwadama was nabbed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)
officers on Thursday before being presented at the Milimani Anti-Corruption
Court.

A
source at the EACC told Citizen Digital that Mwadama, who worked as an
Assistant Inspector at KEPHIS, had earned a cumulative salary of Ksh.4,746,834.38
through the job acquired with fake documents.

Appearing
before Chief Magistrate Felix Kombo, the accused was charged with 12 counts of
criminal offences including forgery, uttering false documents, providing false
information to a public entity and fraudulent acquisition of public property
arising from forgery of four academic certificates.

The
court heard that Mwadama had forged his KCSE certificate, Certificate in
Agriculture from the Kilifi Institute of Agriculture (Pwani University),
and a Diploma Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture & Rural
Development from the Baraka Agricultural College in Molo.

He
had also allegedly forged academic transcripts in Sustainable Agriculture &
Rural Development from the Kilifi Institute of Agriculture (Pwani University).

The
accused however denied all the charges and was released on a Ksh.3 million bond
or cash bail of Ksh.250,000. The case will be mentioned on 8th June 2023.

The
commission has since cautioned against rising cases of academic fraud, noting
that that over 150 cases under investigation are forgery related to persons
within the public service.

While
stating that 14 of the said cases are presently pending in court, EACC urged
employers and education institutions to be on high alert to curb the offence.