NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 22 – Former Nairobi Senatorial aspirant Gabriel Chapia was convicted for forging academic certificates and fraudulently acquiring public funds.
According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the former aspirant was convicted on Friday last week at the Milimani Anti-Corruption Law Courts after entering a plea bargain agreement with the prosecution.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery of academic certificates, contrary to the Penal Code, and two counts of fraudulent acquisition of public property, contrary to the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
The court sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in prison or a fine of Sh30,000 on each count, totaling Sh150,000.
In addition, Chapia was ordered to refund Sh182,751 earned while serving at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and Sh3.3 million received from the Kenya Investment Authority, together with 12 percent interest, amounting to Sh3.9 million.
Investigation
The Commission received a report on May 4 2017 alleging that Gabriel Bukachi Chapia, the 2017 ODM Senatorial candidate for Nairobi City County, falsified academic documents and used them to gain employment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) and Nairobi City County Government.
The Commission commenced investigations and established that Gabriel Bukachi Chapia had forged a Master’s degree in Information Technology from Daystar University, a degree in Computer Science from Maseno University, and various diploma and short course certificates from the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru.
These forged certificates were presented to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital for the position of Manager ICT in 2009, Kenya Investment Authority for the position of Manager ICT in 2010 and Nairobi City County Government for the position Ward Administrator in 2014.
Attempted Withdrawal of Charges
The conviction comes after a contentious attempt by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to withdraw the case in October 2024, despite 14 witnesses having testified.
Through an application filed under section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the DPP sought to terminate the proceedings at the request of the accused.
EACC opposed the application, arguing that the withdrawal lacked a reasonable basis and was not in the public interest.
The Commission told the court that “there was no reason why the hearing of ACC No. E041 of 2020 should not proceed to its logical conclusion,” citing the detrimental effect of corruption and the significant public resources already spent on the case.
The court agreed, declining to halt the trial.
