Nairobi Water employee fined Ksh.8.5M for using forged academic certificate to get job

A Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) employee has been fined Ksh.8.5 million by the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court for securing employment using a forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate.

Felix Ojwang Balamu was found guilty of using a fake academic certificate to obtain his job at NCWSC, where he earned a total of Ksh.8.2 million in salaries since his employment on November 9, 2011.

According to investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Balamu had forged the KCSE certificate and presented it as authentic, purporting it to be issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC).

The forgery came to light after the Commission received complaints and launched an inquiry into his qualifications.

Following the probe, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) approved charges against the accused.

Balamu was then arraigned on February 25, 2025, facing four counts, including fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, deceiving a principal, and presenting a forged document.

Delivering judgment on October 10, 2025, Senior Principal Magistrate Selesa Okore convicted Balamu on multiple counts, finding that he had fraudulently obtained Ksh.8,243,562, equivalent to the total salary earned through false pretence.

The court imposed a fine of Ksh.8,243,562 for fraudulent acquisition of public property and an additional Ksh.100,000 for each of the counts of deceiving a principal and presenting a false KCSE certificate.

In default, Balamu will serve four years in prison, with the sentences running concurrently.