The Public Service Commission (PSC) has partnered with the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) in verifying the qualifications of prospective civil servants in real time to tackle the widespread use of fake academic certificates
The move comes as the commission rush to tighten the regulations in the public service by ensuring that only qualified candidates are recruited into government positions.
Speaking on local television on Tuesday, October 28, PSC Commissioner Francis Meja said the initiative is still in its pilot stage but promises to drastically reduce fraudulent applications.
He revealed that in the new system, the databases of PSC and KNEC are directly connected, allowing the commission to use a candidate’s primary and secondary school index numbers to confirm the authenticity of certificates submitted during the application process.
“We have signed an agreement with the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). Before your appointment, we will verify your certificates,” Meja stated.
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He explained that the digital platform eliminates manual handling in certificate verification.
“And how will we do it? We want to interface our systems so that there is no manual intervention in the verification of certificates. The database is there, and KNEC has given us access to their database so that we just pick information as it is,” he added.
Meja highlighted that the system would prevent ineligible applicants from being recruited, a problem that has long plagued public service hiring. The initiative replaces the previous process where verification took place manually and often after a candidate had already been employed.
The PSC also plans to expand the verification system to include university degrees, covering Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD qualifications, through a similar partnership with the Commission for University Education (CUE).
“Once we create that database and link it, we will deal with this problem of fake academic certificates once and for all,” Meja assured.
The digital verification platform was launched by KNEC in July, with the PSC being the first government body to adopt it.
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KNEC CEO David Njeng’ere had noted at the time that the Ministry of Interior would next implement the system before it is rolled out to private sector employers.
This comes amid rising concerns whereby Kenya is dealing with an alarming increase in academic and professional certificate forgeries in the public sector, resulting in urgent calls for systemic reform and increased vigilance.
This disturbing trend was revealed at the 2025 Ethics and Integrity Conference in May 2025, where top government and anti-corruption officials warned of the far-reaching consequences if the problem is not addressed quickly.
By Juma Ndigo
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