Nyamira County to Terminate 79 Employees for Fake Certificates

79 employees of Nyamira County government are facing the grim prospect of losing their jobs and other benefits after it was discovered that they used fake academic certificates to secure employment and promotions.

As a result, Governor Amos Nyaribo has announced an immediate suspension of their salary payments.

He further stated that the names of these individuals have been forwarded to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for further action.

Addressing the press on Friday morning at the county headquarters, Mr. Nyaribo said this is the first crackdown aimed at cleansing the county payroll by removing unqualified individuals who have been siphoning millions from the county treasury.

“I made a promise to the people of Nyamira that I would safeguard their resources, ensure integrity, and respect the Constitution. To uphold the integrity of our payroll and Public Service, the Nyamira County Government conducted a process to verify the academic certificates of our employees,” Governor Nyaribo said.

He added, “In the first phase, a total of 2,821 KCSE certificates were submitted to the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). KNEC submitted a report to us in April 2024, showing discrepancies in the average scores for some certificates. In some instances, the examination index numbers were not those of our officers.”

He said that some names on these certificates had been forged.

According to Mr. Nyaribo, the affected departments include Health (24 cases), Finance and Public Service Management (13 cases each), Governor’s Office and Lands (nine cases each), Education and Environment (three cases each), and Gender, Trade, and Public Service Board (one case each).

Governor Nyaribo also noted that the second batch of academic certificates will be submitted to KNEC and middle-level colleges next week for verification.

Additionally, Governor Nyaribo said that some 245 employees fraudulently obtained promotions, but their report will soon be revealed.

“There is one person who was promoted after just one day. We will not tolerate such individuals,” Mr. Nyaribo said.

According to Governor Nyaribo, the 79 employees whose salaries have been suspended were receiving Sh48 million every month.

Some of the suspended employees hold high-ranking positions in the government.

In May 2023, when Governor Nyaribo announced the commencement of the employee audit, two senior officials from the Human Resource Department were arrested by the DCI for office malpractice.

The suspects faced charges related to various activities that were alleged to have caused the misappropriation of county resources through dubious means.