Crackdown on Fake Academic Credentials Intensifies as Suspects Face Legal Action

In a decisive move against fraudulent academic qualifications, three employees of the Sports, Arts, and Social Development Funds (SASDF) found themselves arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts. John Onyango Odhiambo, Adan Bagajo Lamma, and George Ereng Lotieng, all in their mid-forties, were charged with Forgery, Making a document without authority, and uttering a false document.

The allegations stem from their submission of falsified academic certificates to secure employment and improve their pay grades within SASDF. John Onyango purportedly presented a doctored 2011 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate from Starays Hope Community Center in Nairobi.

Adan Lamma submitted a counterfeit 1998 KCSE certificate from Marsabit Boys High School, despite never completing his secondary education.

Similarly, George Ereng Lotieng presented a forged KCSE certificate from St. Marks Boys High School in Cherangany, a school that did not exist during the alleged examination year.

Investigations revealed John Onyango’s manipulation of grades to meet job qualification thresholds, including altering subject grades to achieve a minimum grade of D+. Adan Lamma’s purported examination center did not exist during the 1998 KCSE examinations, and George Ereng’s examination center was non-existent, with the certificate bearing a code belonging to a different school.

The suspects appeared before the Milimani Law Courts to face the charges leveled against them. These arrests come in the wake of increased scrutiny on individuals using fake academic and professional qualifications to secure government positions or advancements. The Public Service Commission estimates that over 2,000 government employees may be implicated in similar cases.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is collaborating with other government agencies to investigate these matters further, underscoring the government’s commitment to upholding the integrity of academic qualifications in the public sector.