EACC Says Every Academic Certificate in Kenya is Questionable, Calls for Rigorous Verification
The anti-corruption agency has warned that every academic qualification in Kenya is questionable.
Twalib Mbarak, Chief Executive Officer of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, stated on Saturday that the country must find a solution to the issue of fraudulent documents.
“Every academic certificate in this country is now questionable for your information,” Mbarak stated in a statement.
According to the CEO of the anti-graft agency, the issue of fake certificates on the loose in the country is serious, and efforts must be made to find a long-term solution and bring the perpetrators to justice.
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“If you arrest one criminal, there are nine more on the loose,” Mbarak said on Saturday at the World Day Against Corruption in Murang’a.
Mbarak raised questions about the potential outcomes if the anti-fake-certificate campaign were extended to encompass all levels of government, including the legislature.
Mbarak acknowledged the challenge of fake certificates in Parliament and the central government, emphasizing the need to address this issue.
According to the CEO, the commission recently got a letter from the Attorney General’s office requesting mutual cooperation on someone who claimed to hold a degree from a university in a neighboring nation.
A CEC in a county overseeing mining stated in bold that the certificate is fake; “we managed to capture one,” Mbarak said.
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The EACC’s warning comes at a time when there have been reports of people presenting forged academic credentials to job agencies in the country.
According to the Kenya National Qualifications Authority and the EACC, one-third of Kenyans employed are not qualified for their positions.
According to the two state agencies, Kenyans obtained those posts by falsifying academic credentials, often with the help of recruitment panels.
That indicates that one out of every three Kenyans has a forged qualification.
This means that unqualified individuals may be making decisions that have far-reaching consequences for Kenyans’ lives.
EACC informed Members of Parliament that several employers, including universities, are fully aware that they are hiring and promoting individuals with forged certificates.
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“Employers, universities, and colleges bear significant blame for the forgery of academic certificates in public service,” EACC deputy CEO Abdi Mohamud told MPs on July 27.
Mohamud described academic fraud as a danger to the credibility of Kenya’s education system and recommended businesses to do thorough background checks on academic certificates provided by job applicants.
One method is to contact the issuing institution to confirm the authenticity of the certificates.
The EACC has been arresting public servants who were hired with forged credentials. For every person caught, many more go unnoticed.
The issue of forged diplomas has tainted the country’s politics.
Several lawmakers were discovered having questionable academic credentials in the run-up to the 2022 national elections.
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EACC Says Every Academic Certificate in Kenya is Questionable, Calls for Rigorous Verification
