Police yet to do its part, says agency as it closes fake papers probe at Kenya Ports Authority

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has concluded its probe on the fake certificates racket at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).

The port has been in turmoil for over a year now after reports emerged that hundreds of workers and managers had been employed and promoted after presenting fake academic and professional certificates, including dud university degrees.

The scandal has simmered since 2012 when an internal audit of documents was ordered by the KPA management following directions from the central government.

But the scam only burst into the open late 2014 when a final report disclosing names of culprits was prepared.

Implementation of the report's recommendation was slow, but under intense pressure, led to the eventual dismissal of 132 workers.

These included 25 lower and middle-level managers, sparking a new legal battle with the Dock Workers Union (DWU) which wanted them pardoned.

DWU lost a court battle to stop the sackings and now wants a probe to unearth the full extent of the rot and punishment of top managers who allowed the scandal to fester.

"Our last visit to the port was two months ago. We are currently compiling a report and once complete we will forward our findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions who would then decide whether the evidence provided is sufficient to prefer charges on those found culpable," said EACC Deputy Director Kairichi Marimba on Friday.

The EACC official's announcement has sparked a new debate about the conduct and speed of the probe itself, with inside sources at KPA indicating that some top managers had retired early or were contemplating doing so for fear of being caught up in a firestorm expected soon.

The anti-graft agency has also said its detectives had only investigated the economic and corruption aspects of the crimes amid reports it had recommended charges of fraud, false and illegal enrichment and expected the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to probe forgery.

EACC said it had discovered that more than a year after the internal audit established culprits leading to sackings in September and October last year, the CID had not launched a probe into the forgery aspects.

A senior police officer at Mombasa police headquarters told The Standard on condition of anonymity last month that "we have not launched an investigation because KPA has not officially invited us."

On Friday, Marimba neither gave the timeline regarding when EACC files would be forwarded to the DPP nor indicated why the probe had taken long given the commission had in October last year indicated it was concluding investigations.