Former Kiambu County official fined Ksh.1M over forgery of KCSE certificate

A former Principal Human Resource Officer at the County Assembly of Kiambu has been fined Ksh.1.06 million after admitting to fraudulently securing public funds using a forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate.

Margaret Njeri Mbugua was convicted by the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on three counts after pleading guilty under a plea agreement with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

In a judgment delivered on October 22, 2026, Magistrate Isabellah Barasa ordered Mbugua to pay Ksh.1 million in compensation to the government for fraudulently acquiring public property. She was also fined Ksh.20,000 on each of the three counts, bringing the total penalty to Ksh.1.06 million.

The court further ordered that she would serve six months in prison for each count in default of paying the fines.

Investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) established that Mbugua used a forged KCSE certificate, purportedly issued for examinations undertaken in November and December 1996 at Gachoire Secondary School, to secure employment at the County Assembly of Kiambu.

According to the court documents, she received Ksh.4,921,953.80 in salaries between November 9, 2020, and August 26, 2025, after securing employment using the falsified academic document.

The charge sheet states that Mbugua presented the certificate, bearing serial number 1018572, on December 16, 2011, at St. Paul's University in Kiambu County, claiming it was a genuine document issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC).

She was initially charged with four offences: fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, uttering a false document and presenting a forged certificate.

However, under the plea agreement, she admitted to fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document and presenting a forged certificate. The forgery count was to be withdrawn under the agreement.

The prosecution had lined up seven witnesses, including experts, to testify in the case had it proceeded to trial.

Under the plea agreement, Mbugua also committed to compensate the government Ksh.1 million in quarterly instalments of Ksh.83,500, beginning in October 2026 and running through July 2029, with the final instalment subject to the agreed payment schedule.

EACC welcomed the conviction, saying the outcome serves as a deterrent to individuals who engage in similar criminal conduct.