Former Nairobi City Water official jailed 5 years for using fake academic certificate

A former Revenue Collection Assistant at Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) Limited has been convicted after a court found that he used forged academic credentials to secure employment and unlawfully earned public funds.

The conviction follows investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which established that Okandah William John forged a Bachelor of Commerce degree certificate purportedly issued by the University of Nairobi and used it to obtain employment at the water utility company.

According to the commission, allegations were raised that Okandah had presented a fake Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting to secure a position as a Revenue Collection Assistant at NCWSC.

Subsequent investigations confirmed that the degree certificate was forged and had been used to facilitate his recruitment into the company.

The EACC then forwarded the investigation file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who approved criminal charges against the suspect.

Prosecutors charged Okandah with fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, uttering a false document and deceiving a principal.

The fraudulent acquisition charge related to Ksh.4,749,597 in salaries and benefits paid to him during his tenure at the company.

The suspect was arrested on June 16, 2025, and arraigned before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court.

On June 3, 2026, Senior Principal Magistrate Celesa Asis Okore convicted him on multiple counts and imposed a series of fines.

For the offence of fraudulent acquisition of public property, the court ordered him to pay a mandatory fine equivalent to the amount fraudulently acquired, Ksh.4,749,597, or serve two years in prison.

He was also fined an additional Ksh.100,000, with a default sentence of 12 months imprisonment.

For uttering a false document, he was fined Ksh.100,000 or face 12 months in jail, while for deceiving a principal, he was similarly fined Ksh.100,000 or serve a one-year prison term.

The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

The conviction brings the total financial penalty imposed on the former employee to Ksh.5,049,597, failing which he will serve a custodial sentence.