NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 22 – The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has raised a red flag on land grabbing and use of fake academic papers to gain employment across the country.
The Commission Chairman Bishop David Oginde says the two vices remain a great concern for the anti-graft agency.
Oginde says the rate of land grabbing being reported is so high and the Commission has seized up the matter.
Without elaborating measures put in place to deter the vice, Oginde says “We have put measures into place to ensure this does not increase”.
In Kisumu, he says they are working closely with the county government of Kisumu to ensure all public land which has been grabbed is reverted through a legal process.
Addressing the press on Monday in Kisumu after a courtesy call on Governor Anyang Nyong’o, the Commission Chairman says the issue of fake certificates is eroding gains made in the education sector.
“People are trying to get employment using fake certificates, it is an area we are working hard to ensure that it does not jeopardize our education system,” he said.
Oginde says already some countries have started blacklisting certificates from Kenya.
“We are receiving a lot of reports from across the country and in different categories of government offices and the Commission is working hard to address the situation,” he said.
However, Oginde warned Kenyans who are getting employed using fake certificates that the law will catch up with them and a return of monthly salary for the period worked will be affected.
He says there is no benefit ultimately in one using a fake document to procure a job.
Currently, he said, the Commission is claiming millions of shillings from suspects who earned salaries over a period of time using fake certificates.
He further warned national and county employees’ against using false claims to enrich themselves.
“Some employees use fictitious claims to fleece the government by pretending that they have gone to a seminar, they have gone outside the country, these matters are a concern to us and we are putting our heads together on how to ensure this does not continue,” he said.
