Two public officers namely Pauline Anyango Otieno and Lilian Akoth Ochieng have been separately found guilty of forging academic certificates to gain employment at the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation.
Pauline forged a Certificate in Procurement from Mount Kenya University (MKU) while Lilian forged both a Diploma and Certificate from the Kenya Institute of Management (KISM).
They were employed at the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation in 2018.
Before formal employment, Pauline and Lilian had worked in the Corporation for 8 years as casual employees.
They were formally employed as Supplies Assistants after forging the said academic certificates.
Prior to investigations, they had served for 2 months.
The investigations established that Pauline Anyango Otieno used fake academic documents namely Certificate in Procurement Supplies Management awarded by Mount Kenya University to secure employment as a Supplies Assistant.
Upon conclusion of the investigations the accused was arrested on 25th August 2021 and was arraigned before Anti-Corruption Court Kisumu E006/2021 to answer to seven counts of charges i.e.
i) Forgery
ii) Providing false information to a public entity
iii) Deceiving a public entity
iv) Uttering a false document
v) Fraudulent acquisition of public property Kes. 78,698 being cumulative sum paid as salary after having uttered false academic certificates which led to her being employed as a Supplies Assistant at REREC.
Vide a letter dated 11th January 2022, the accused sought an opportunity to engage in plea bargain negotiations.
This is in line with Article 159 (c) of the Constitution and sectionS 137A-137O of the CPC Cap 75 Laws of Kenya. After plea bargain negotiations were concluded she pleaded guilty to three (3) counts.
On 28th June,2022, Hon. Teresa Odera found her guilty and for each count she was fined as follows:
i) Count 1 – Providing false information; KES. 100,000 in default 6-months imprisonment
ii) Count 2 – Uttering a false document (certificate); KES. 50,000 in default 1-year imprisonment
iii) Count 3 – Fraudulent acquisition of public property (Kes. 78,698); to refund KES. 78,698 to REREC in default 1-year imprisonment. The refund is for the money paid as salary on the basis of false academic certificates which led to her employment as a Supplies Assistant at REREC.
In total, she was sentenced to serve 2 and half years in jail or pay KES. 228,698.
The investigations established that Lilian Akoth Ochieng used fake academic documents namely Diploma in Management – Purchasing and Supplies and Certificate in Purchasing and Supplies Management both awarded by Kenya Institute of Management to secure employment as a Supplies Assistant (REA 10).
Upon conclusion of the investigations the accused was arrested on 26th April 2021 and was arraigned before Anti-Corruption Court Kisumu E005/2021 to answer to seven counts of charges i.e.
i) Providing false information to a public entity
ii) Knowingly misleading a public entity
iii) Forgery
iv) Uttering a false document
v) Deceiving a public entity
vi) Fraudulent acquisition of public property Kes. 71,090 being cumulative sum paid as salary after having uttered false academic certificates which led to her being employed as a Supplies Assistant at REREC.
Vide a letter dated 13th October 2021, the accused sought for an opportunity to engage in plea bargain negotiations. This is in line with Article 159 (c) of the constitution and section 137A-137O of the CPC Cap 75 Laws of Kenya.
On 28th June,2022, Hon Teresa Odera, Chief Magistrate, found her guilty and for each count she was fined as follows:
i) Count 1 – Providing false information; KES. 100,000 in default 6-months imprisonment
ii) Count 2 – Uttering a false document (certificate); KES. 50,000 in default 1-year imprisonment
iii) Count 3 – Uttering a false document (diploma); KES. 50,000 in default 1-year imprisonment
iv) Count 4 – Fraudulent acquisition of public property (Kes. 71,901); to refund KES. 71, 901 to REREC in default 1-year imprisonment.
The refund is for the money paid as salary on the basis of false academic certificates which led to her employment as a Supplies Assistant at REREC.
In total she was sentenced to serve 3 and half years in jail or pay KES. 271,901.
