Court Orders Ex-Nairobi Water Employee to Refund KSh4.7 Million After Landing Job With Fake University Degree
A former employee of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company has been ordered to refund nearly KSh4.75 million after a Kenyan court found that he fraudulently secured his job using a forged university degree certificate.
The ruling marks another high-profile victory in the fight against corruption and fraudulent acquisition of public employment, with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) saying the accused unlawfully earned millions of shillings in taxpayer-funded salaries over seven years.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, July 8, the anti-graft agency announced that Okandah William John, who served as a Revenue Collection Assistant at the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, was convicted of fraudulently acquiring public funds after presenting fake academic qualifications during recruitment.
According to the EACC, investigations established that Okandah submitted a forged Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option) degree certificate purporting to have been issued by the University of Nairobi, enabling him to secure employment at the utility company in September 2016.
The commission revealed that he remained on the company’s payroll until November 30, 2023, receiving a total of KSh4,749,597 in salaries before the forged credentials were uncovered during an academic certificate verification exercise.
“He was sentenced to pay a mandatory fine of KSh4,749,597, being the amount fraudulently acquired, or serve two years’ imprisonment in default,” the EACC said.
The case was heard before Senior Principal Magistrate Celesa Asis Okore, who found Okandah guilty on three criminal counts, including fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document and deceiving a principal.
However, the court acquitted him of the separate offence of forgery after ruling that prosecutors had not produced sufficient evidence linking him directly to the creation of the fake degree certificate itself.
In addition to refunding the KSh4.75 million obtained through the fraudulent employment, the court imposed a fine of KSh100,000 for each of the three offences. Failure to pay the fines will attract a default sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment for each count.
During the trial, prosecutors told the court that the suspect submitted the forged degree certificate as part of his employment application, after which it was incorporated into his official personnel records at Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company.
The deception was uncovered after the company initiated a verification exercise, forwarding employees’ academic certificates to the respective institutions for authentication.
Evidence presented before the court showed that the University of Nairobi categorically denied issuing the degree certificate presented by Okandah.
The university further confirmed that the accused had never enrolled for the Bachelor of Commerce programme and noted that the graduation date indicated on the certificate was fictitious. Court proceedings heard that the institution held only one graduation ceremony in 1998, on November 30, making the details appearing on the certificate impossible.
The conviction adds to a growing number of prosecutions targeting individuals accused of using forged academic qualifications to secure employment in public institutions, as authorities intensify efforts to safeguard integrity in public service recruitment and recover funds obtained through fraud.
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