Sugar factory staff on the spot over fake papers

By John Oywa

At least 45 staff of Chemelil Sugar Company could lose their jobs after it was established they might have used forged certificates to earn promotions, The Standard on Sunday can reveal.

Investigations showed the Government Training Institute (GTI), which administers Trade Tests to technical staff, had written to the 45 workers, giving them a five-day ultimatum to submit their original academic certificates failure to which they would face disciplinary action.

Police and the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission officials have also been alerted and ordered to arrest the workers should they fail to authenticate the certificates they used to earn promotions.

The affected include low, middle and senior level staff at the factory, agricultural production and field services departments.

On Friday, there was anxiety at the company after the effected workers started receiving the letters from GTI. At least one of the employees had vacated his residential house.

Police and company sources intimated that a senior staff at the factory minted hundreds of thousands of shillings from the certificates scam and is under probe.

The suspect, our sources said, helped his colleagues to climb up the ladder after acquiring the fake craft and technical certificates for various trade tests.

Suspicious promotions

Sources said the 45 workers ran into trouble after the company Managing Director Edward Musebe directed the Human Resources Manager Jacinta Kering’ to investigate the allegations of forgery.

Mr Musebe gave the directive two months ago during a staff meeting following some employees’ claims of suspicious promotions.

The HR investigations were followed by the GTI probe.

The company Public Relations Manager Salim Bakari on Friday downplayed the matter, saying it was normal for GTI to recall certificates for "regularisation".

"It is true GTI has asked the workers to avail their certificates for verification, but we can’t pre-empt what they will do with them," said Bakari.

"We are not an authority to determine whether the certificate are genuine until we get word from the experts," he said.

Bakari, however, confirmed the workers were to present their certificates for verification in Nairobi.

And the Kenya Sugar Cane Plantation Workers Union officials came out strongly to protect the staff from losing their jobs.

One of the senior officials at the Chemelil branch, Owuor Rinda, said the company operations could be paralysed if the workers were sacked.

"We are negotiating on their behalf," he said. "We are aware the company reported them to GTI and there are fears they could be arrested."