According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), this year’s Labour Day comes in the wake of rampant cases where some workers are forging academic certificates to secure employment and job promotions, especially in the counties.
The EACC said that this could adversely affect the economy and compromise the integrity of Kenya’s education system.
“Employers, just like universities, bear significant blame for the menace of forgery of academic certificates in the public service. Some workers secure employment, promotions, or university admissions using fake certificates with the full knowledge of employers or universities,” the EACC said.
To address this problem, EACC says that employers should always undertake sufficient background checks on the academic certificates submitted by job candidates to authenticate the same with the issuing institutions.
“On their part, universities and colleges should play a proactive role by establishing strong internal controls that would enable early detection of fake academic certificates submitted by prospective students seeking admission for undergraduate, postgraduate or other courses,” the EACC added.
According to EACC, any university or other learning institution that may be engaged in collusion to issue academic certificates to unqualified persons, including individuals who have not undertaken or completed any studies should desist from doing so and strictly adhere to prescribed standards.
EACC says that it will continue to investigate and recommend prosecution of suspects of academic fraud.
This is in addition to recovering any salaries and benefits to public officials accruing from employment on fake academic qualifications.
