A former employee of Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) has been convicted for using a fake university degree certificate to secure employment and unlawfully earning more than Ksh4.75 million in salaries and benefits over a seven-year period.
The Milimani Anti-Corruption Court found Okandah William John guilty of fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document, and deceiving a principal.
The court heard that Okandah was employed by NCWSC in August 2016 as a Revenue Collection Assistant after presenting a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option) degree certificate purportedly issued by the University of Nairobi.
Investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) later established that the certificate was fraudulent and had been used to facilitate his employment at the public utility company.
Evidence presented in court showed that NCWSC initiated a verification exercise of employees’ academic credentials and submitted degree certificates to various institutions for authentication. The University of Nairobi subsequently confirmed that the certificate submitted by Okandah was not genuine, stating that his name did not appear in its student enrolment or graduation records.
The university further noted that the graduation date indicated on the certificate did not correspond with any official graduation ceremony conducted by the institution in 1998.
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Following the findings, NCWSC commenced disciplinary proceedings, terminated Okandah’s employment, and referred the matter to the EACC for further investigations.
The anti-graft agency established that Okandah received a total of Ksh4,749,597 in salaries and benefits between August 2016 and November 2023 while serving in the position.
Although he faced four charges, including forgery, the court acquitted him of the forgery count, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he personally prepared or altered the fake degree certificate.
However, the court found that he knowingly relied on the fraudulent document to obtain employment and access public funds, leading to his conviction on the remaining charges.
Senior Principal Magistrate Celesa Asis Okore ordered Okandah to pay a mandatory fine equivalent to the Ksh4.75 million he unlawfully received from the public institution or serve a two-year jail term in default.
He was also fined Ksh100,000 for each of the offences of fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document, and deceiving a principal. The sentences will run concurrently.
By Frank Mugwe
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