Outdated and ageing technology is to blame for the proliferation of fake academic certificates in the civil service, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has revealed.
The PSC told the National Assembly’s Committee on Cohesion and Equal Opportunity that the ageing technology has made it impossible to decisively curb the use of fake academic certificates to secure employment in the public service.
Francis Meja, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission, said the current technology being used to ascertain the authenticity of academic certificates is “outdated, slow and costly.
“The commission is relying on old technology to verify and weed out fake academic papers. As a result, the process takes too long and is expensive,” Mr Meja told the committee when he appeared before it to provide the status of Kenya’s ethnic diversity in the staff composition of the PSC.
“The old technology is creating loopholes that have been exploited by job seekers who use forged credentials to secure employment in the public service.”
Mr Meja revealed that the PSC is working with the Commission for University Education (CUE) and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) to roll out a modern, integrated system capable of instant authentication of academic documents.
“We are carrying out reforms with the two institutions that will enable us to detect a fake academic document at the press of a button,” Mr Meja said.
Ndhiwa MP Martin Owino had questioned the commission’s failure to stem the rising use of forged certificates to secure public jobs and promotions.
While appearing before the National Assembly’s Labour committee in January during his vetting for appointment as the PSC chairperson, Mr Meja vowed to crack the whip on ghost workers and public servants with fake certificates.
“I honestly believe that the issue of ghost workers in the public service and fake certificates held by civil servants has been allowed to go on,” Mr Meja, the former National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) director general, said while fielding questions from the vetting panel.
“If I am appointed as a member of the Public Service Commission, ghost workers and fake certificates will not happen again. Not under my watch.”
Mr Meja said there is a database of academic certificates held by the Kenya National Examination Council (Knec).
“Interfacing these systems will see job applications made to the PSC using fake academic certificates rejected instantly,” Mr Meja said.
“The issue of ghost workers in the public service has been allowed to go on due to negligence or corruption. Why don’t we have ghost workers in the private sector?”
The Public Service Commission has been struggling to weed out public servants who forged academic documents to secure jobs.
PSC, through the Circulars Ref.Nos.PSC.3/1/1/IV;32/35 and Ref. No: PSC/ADM/13(42) required organisations to authenticate academic and professional certificates used by officers to secure appointments and promotions.
The commission, in a report released last year, revealed that the Kenya Railways (KR), Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) topped the list of State entities that sacked 202 out of 650 staff who were found to have forged academic documents to secure jobs.
The PSC said 58 other staff who were found to have faked their academic papers opted to resign between June 2022 and June 2023.
The report shows that many civil servants secured jobs and promotions by using forged academic and professional papers.
The report showed that KR kicked out 55 staff, among them two who purported to be holders of degree certificates, KMTC sacked 35 staff members, while Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) sent 16 staff into parking.
The Geothermal Development Company sacked 15 employees for forging academic papers, while the National Construction Authority and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service each dismissed three staff members.
“Arising from the findings of the authentication exercise, 58 officers resigned, six took early retirement, 181 were dismissed from service, 252 had ongoing disciplinary action, and one was deceased," Mr Simon Rotich, the PSC Chief Executive, said in a report to Parliament.
"There was no action taken against four, and there was no information provided with regard to 242 certificates found to have been forged,” Mr Simon Rotich, the PSC Chief Executive, said in a report to Parliament.
