Court orders Nairobi Water employee to pay Ksh.7.5M over forged KCSE certificate

A Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company employee has been ordered to pay Ksh.7.5 million in compensation and fines after being convicted of using a forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate to secure employment.

Milimani Anti-Corruption Court Magistrate Celesa Okore found Kelly Gichuri Muiruri, a driver at the company, guilty of four charges in a judgment delivered on October 29, 2026.

The court established that Muiruri presented a KCSE certificate showing that he had obtained a mean grade of C plain in the 2002 examination, yet his actual grade was D plain.

He was convicted of fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document, deceiving a principal and presenting a forged certificate. However, he was acquitted of the separate charge of forgery.

The court ordered Muiruri to pay Ksh.6,742,673 in compensation, representing salaries he received between November 2016 and December 2023, or serve four years in prison in default.

He was also fined a total of Ksh.800,000 across the four counts, with the penalties carrying additional prison terms if unpaid.

The fines comprised Ksh.300,000 for fraudulent acquisition of public property, Ksh.200,000 for uttering a false document, Ksh.200,000 for deceiving a principal and Ksh.100,000 for presenting a forged certificate.

The court directed that the prison terms attached to the unpaid fines be served consecutively.

The case followed investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) after a report that Muiruri had used falsified academic credentials to obtain employment at the water utility.

Upon completing its investigations, the commission forwarded the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions with recommendations for prosecution.

The EACC has urged employers to verify academic and professional qualifications during recruitment to protect public resources and promote integrity in public service.