A total of 450 employees in the Department for Internal Security and National Administration in Nyeri have already prsented their academic and professional certificates for verification.
The move follows a recent circular from the Public Service Commission (PSC) which directed all government employees to present their academic certificates for verification in a bid to weed out staff with bogus papers.
Under the directive, all civil servants are required to authenticate their KCPE, KCSE, and diploma certificates issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) by October 18.
Data from Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) shows that the public service workforce totaled to 923,100 in the 2020/2021 fiscal year.
Monica Mwakazi who is the assistant Director Human Resources Management and Development says the Department is targeting close to 500 members of staff beginning from the junior clerks to the highest cadres in the exercise.
Mwakazi also clarified that the exercise has been widened to include officers who were employed more than a decade ago to ensure everyone is captured in the final report.
She stated that the Government is keen on verifying all academic certificates beginning with the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education up to the highest qualification.
“We have over 500 employees and we have managed to collect data from 450 employees as per today (Monday). The process is ongoing because there are other employees that had been on training at the Administration Police Training College last week and who we shall be dealing with tomorrow (Tuesday) as we finalize the exercise,” said Mwakazi.
The officer further stated that once the process is complete, they will also advise on staffing needs and recommend transfer of personnel depending on individual skills.
She said they will also ensure everyone is undertaking a job they are qualified at and in case one has acquired new skills they can be deployed to other areas they are more competent.
“This verification and authentication exercise involves all employees irrespective of the date of appointment. We began the exercise awhile back and as a Ministry we began a week and a half ago we hope to conclude by October 17 this year.
We want to ensure that all our employees possess the prerequisite qualifications and that everyone is qualified for the job they are doing and where you find someone has acquired new skills, they are deployed to other areas they are competent to do that job,” she stated.
In a circular early this month, PSC said the verification exercise will no longer be limited to officers employed within the last decade but will cover all public servants regardless of when they joined the service.
Following the directive, all government ministries, State departments, agencies and public institutions have been directed to conduct a fresh audit of academic and professional certificates for every civil servant in efforts to curb rising cases of fake certificates.
Apart from collecting data on skills acquisition, Mwakazi stated that the government is also keen in ensuring those who have stagnated in one job group for years are upgraded accordingly.
Among those who are set to benefit from the move include chiefs and clerical officers, majority of whom have remained in one cadre for years.
“As we collect this data, we are also asking them(officers)whether they have been able to move to the next grade. The reason is that when you look at those certificates you may find out that somebody had additional professional certificates. Most of them are doing certificates that are relevant to the scheme of service and for those who have submitted their documents we will take cognizance of that in terms of promotion,” stated the officer.
In 2019, the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) raised an alarm over the surge of fraudulent academic papers in circulation, warning that the vice posed a serious threat to Kenya’s global academic reputation.
Two years ago, then PSC Chair Ambassador Anthony Muchiri had directed Ministries, State Departments and Agencies to dismiss public servants found with fake academic credentials. Through a circular dated October 19 2023, Ambassador Muchiri noted that there were a number of public servants who used forged academic documents to secure employment and promotions.
“A preliminary audit report from MDAs indicates that there are substantial cases of forged academic and professional certificates utilized for the award of appointments, promotions or re-designation in the Public Service,” Muchiri said.
In the circular, MDAs were granted go ahead and dismiss all public servants found in possession of forged academic certificates in accordance with the Public Service Commission Act, 2017, the Public Officer Ethics Act, 2003 and the Leadership and Integrity Act of 2012.
By Samuel Maina
