KAJIADO, Kenya – Kajiado West MP George Sunkuyia was arrested Tuesday morning by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for allegedly forging his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate.
Sunkuyia, elected on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, was picked up from his home in Nairobi and taken to the EACC headquarters at the Integrity Centre.
He is expected to face charges in court as investigations into the forgery allegations continue.
His arrest comes amid a widening crackdown on fake academic credentials in the public sector, with officials warning that the surge in forgeries poses a serious threat to integrity and competence in Kenya’s institutions.
“This vice strikes at the heart of competence and integrity in our institutions,” said Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei at the 2025 Ethics and Integrity Conference in Nairobi. “We must confront it decisively to safeguard our national objectives.”
According to the EACC, the MP’s case adds to a growing list of public officials under investigation or prosecution for using fraudulent academic or professional documents to secure positions in government.
Since 2022, the EACC has investigated 549 cases of forged credentials, forwarding 85 to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
So far, 13 individuals have been convicted, while seven have been acquitted.
The commission is also working to recover salaries and benefits acquired fraudulently.
A verification exercise across 91 public institutions uncovered 1,208 forged certificates out of a sample of 53,000 submitted documents.
Roughly 70 per cent of the identified cases were linked to senior government agencies and state corporations, followed by public universities, which recorded 116 cases.
Koskei revealed that at least 787 individuals in tertiary institutions had secured employment, promotions, or resigned with fake certificates.
The fraud spans all education levels—from secondary school and vocational training institutions to local and international universities.
A recent government audit found 859 individuals holding fake academic credentials, and 160 with fraudulent professional documents.
An additional 24,000 public officers had not undergone any certification process.
Despite the widespread nature of the problem, only 49 institutions have formally reported forgery cases to the EACC or the Public Service Commission, with just 43 submitting supporting documentation.
“It is unacceptable that graduates with genuine first-class degrees struggle to find work while fraudsters thrive,” Koskei said.
Authorities are now calling for stricter enforcement, improved verification processes, and greater accountability from both public and private sector employers to curb the growing forgery menace.
