Kenya, Aug. 31 -- Nairobi City County has initiated a comprehensive audit to verify the academic and professional credentials of its 17,000-strong workforce, following directives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and a Public Service Commission (PSC) memo.
The County Public Service Board (CPSB) has mandated all employees to submit their academic documents to their department heads for scrutiny. This verification process, which began on August 29, 2025, is set to conclude by December 19, 2025, as outlined in a CPSB circular dated August 25, 2025.
The initiative stems from an EACC letter (Ref: EACC.7/10/1 VOL XXV (25), dated August 21, 2025), referencing a PSC memo (Ref: PSC/ADM/VOL.XIV (83), dated March 11, 2024), which instructed the CPSB to conduct a thorough audit of employee qualifications.
CPSB Chairman Thomas Kasoa, in a memo to the County Secretary, requested personal files and prior verification reports for all county officers. The memo, copied to Governor Johnson Sakaja, Deputy Governor Njoroge Muchiri, chief officers, and the county attorney, underscores the urgency of rooting out fraudulent credentials.
This move follows a broader crackdown by the PSC and EACC, which last year uncovered a syndicate peddling forged certificates, costing taxpayers approximately KSh 460 million in salaries paid to unqualified individuals.
EACC CEO Abdi Mohamud recently disclosed that 549 forgery cases are under investigation, with efforts to recover the misappropriated funds. Meanwhile, the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) reported flagging over 10,000 fake certificates across 400 government institutions, based on 47,000 files submitted for verification.
At the 2025 Ethics and Integrity Conference in Nairobi, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei labelled fake certificates a grave threat to institutional credibility and national progress.
He highlighted rampant falsification across government sectors and announced a multi-agency task force, including the EACC, Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Kenya National Examinations Council, and KNQA, working alongside the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to tackle the crisis. The initiative aims to restore merit-based appointments and safeguard public trust in governance.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Bana Kenya.