NAIROBI, Kenya – In a crackdown on academic fraud, the government has dismissed 449 civil servants who secured jobs and promotions using fake academic certificates, according to the latest report from the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The Annual Compliance Report for the 2023/2024 Financial Year reveals that these dismissals account for 52.3% of the total 1,019 officers identified with counterfeit credentials.
Of the fraudulent cases, 744 individuals (73%) faced disciplinary action.
“Out of 1,019 officers found with fake certificates, action was taken on 744 (73 per cent) officers,” the report states.
The report also highlights that 79 officers (7.8%) are still under investigation, with no action taken on 15 individuals (1.5%).
Furthermore, 181 officers (17.8%) had unclear statuses regarding the action taken against them.
Among the remaining cases, 181 officers (21.1%) resigned, 26 (3%) retired, 10 (1.2%) went through disciplinary processes, and eight (0.9%) were referred for prosecution.
The disciplinary process for 70 officers (8.1%) and the investigation of 79 others (9.2%) are ongoing.
The PSC noted that while 70.5% of institutions have initiated certificate authentication exercises, many have yet to report the status of these checks.
“Most (67 per cent) of the institutions that had not authenticated certificates of their officers committed to do so by June 30, 2025,” the report added.
The PSC recommends that public institutions embed certificate authentication in their hiring and promotion processes to curb future fraud.
The Commission’s directive, outlined in circulars Ref. No. PSC.3/1/1/IV/32/25 and Ref. No. PSC/ADM/13(42) mandates the termination of officers found using forged documents and forwarding their names to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
