Ex-Nairobi Water employee to pay Sh4.8m fine or serve 36-month jail term over forged certificate

Former Nairobi Water employee fined Sh4.8m over fake certificate. [iStockphoto]

A former Revenue Collection Assistant at the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Limited (NCWSC) has been ordered to pay over Sh4 million in fines or serve a three-year jail term for using a forged university degree certificate to secure employment.

Senior Principal Magistrate Celesa Okore of Milimani Anti-Corruption Court convicted Okandah William John because he knowingly used a fake certificate to fraudulently acquire public funds in salaries.

In a ruling delivered on June 3, 2026, Okandah was sentenced to pay a mandatory fine of Sh4,749,597, being the amount fraudulently acquired, or serve two years' imprisonment in default.

He was further fined Sh100,000 each for the offences of fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document, and deceiving a principal, with a default sentence of 12 months' imprisonment for each offence, with the sentences running concurrently.

According to the Magistrate, investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) established that Okandah forged a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option) degree certificate purportedly issued by the University of Nairobi and used it to secure employment at the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Limited.

As a result, he unlawfully received the Sh4,749,597 in salaries between September 3, 2016, and November 30, 2023.

Upon completion of investigations, the Commission forwarded the investigation file to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who concurred with the recommendation to charge for fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, uttering a false document, and deceiving a principal.

Okandah was arrested on June 16, 2025, and arraigned before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court, which found that he forged the degree certificate, presented it as genuine to secure employment, and falsely declared in his employment records that he possessed the academic qualification.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that NCWSC submitted employees' academic certificates to various institutions for verification.

The University of Nairobi confirmed that the degree certificate presented by the accused had never been issued by the institution and that his name did not appear in its student or graduation records whatsoever.

The university also established that the graduation date indicated on the certificate did not correspond with any graduation ceremony held in 1998.

The court heard that following the verification exercise, NCWSC issued the accused with a notice to show cause before suspending and eventually dismissing him after a disciplinary process.

The matter was later referred to the EACC for investigation, leading to his arrest and prosecution.

In its judgment, the court held that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused fraudulently acquired public funds by securing employment through false academic credentials and knowingly presented a forged document to his employer.

However, the court acquitted him on the separate count of forgery after finding that the prosecution had not sufficiently proved that he personally created the forged certificate.

The court observed that integrity remains fundamental in public service and noted that the submission of the forged degree certificate was unnecessary, as it was not a mandatory requirement for the position.

It further stated that honesty and accountability help safeguard public resources while reducing fraud, corruption and unnecessary legal disputes.