No more hiding: State to trace fake degrees in public jobs

Head of Public Service Felix Koskei leads a consultative meeting between PSC, KNEC and Ministry of Education Move to Streamline Academic Papers Authentication at State House, Nairobi, September 17. [Courtesy]

The government wants a single system to check public servants' academic papers, as it moves to close gaps fraudsters have used to land State jobs on fake qualifications.

Head of Public Service and Chief of Staff Felix Koskei brought together officials from the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) and the Ministry of Education for a consultative meeting at State House, Nairobi on Thursday, September 17.

The talks centred on merging separate authentication systems into one coordinated framework, one that would let institutions confirm a candidate's credentials before they take up a public office.

"There is a need for robust and coordinated mechanisms for verifying academic qualifications to ensure that only people with genuine credentials secure positions in the public service," says Koskei.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba attended the meeting alongside PSC Chairperson Francis Meja, who says the reform would protect the credibility of hiring across government.

"There was a need to integrate and streamline the authentication and verification of academic credentials to safeguard the integrity of recruitment processes," Meja notes, adding the move would reward professionalism and merit in the wider workforce.

Fake certificates have dogged the public service for years. A PSC validation exercise flagged more than 1,200 forged certificates out of tens of thousands of cases referred to KNEC by public institutions, with hundreds of officers found to have secured jobs or promotions using fraudulent papers, according to earlier PSC and EACC findings reported in the local press.

Government officials say an unqualified employee filling a role meant for a trained professional puts service delivery at risk and cheats qualified candidates out of jobs.

A coordinated verification system, officials say, would make it harder for forged papers to slip through and easier for institutions to confirm credentials against the record held by examination and education authorities before an appointment is confirmed.