The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has secured the conviction of a former Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) employee who used a fake university degree to secure his job and went on to earn millions of shillings in salaries.
The Milimani Anti-Corruption Court convicted Okandah William John after prosecutors proved he landed a position as a Revenue Collection Assistant at the public utility by presenting a fraudulent Bachelor of Commerce degree certificate, allegedly issued by the University of Nairobi.
What the Court Found
Senior Principal Magistrate Celesa Asis Okore found Okandah guilty on 3 counts: fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document, and deceiving a principal. She acquitted him on a separate forgery charge under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“I therefore find and hold that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused person in three counts as charged,” the magistrate ruled.
Investigations by the EACC established that Okandah earned a total of Sh4,749,597 in salaries between September 3, 2016, and November 30, 2023, after fraudulently securing the job.
How the Fraud Unfolded
Court documents show Okandah submitted a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting Option, which he claimed was awarded during a University of Nairobi graduation ceremony held on December 4, 1998.
Prosecutors said NCWSC relied on this certificate when hiring him. They further alleged that he knowingly presented the document to the company on or about August 3, 2016, then provided false information in an employee personal information form dated August 15, 2016, in which he claimed to have completed the degree between 1994 and 1998.
The prosecution called 7 witnesses to support its case, drawing on the EACC’s investigation into the matter.
Okandah’s Defense
Okandah denied wrongdoing throughout the trial. He said he did not forge the degree certificate at the center of the case, though he confirmed his employment as a Revenue Collection Assistant and acknowledged filling in the personal information form produced in court.
He denied presenting the disputed degree certificate to the company during the recruitment process and outlined the circumstances of his arrest, urging the court to find that he had not committed the alleged offenses.
The magistrate, however, sided with the prosecution on 3 of the 4 charges. “It is my considered opinion that the prosecution has discharged the onus of proof to the requisite standard save for the charges in Count 2,” she ruled.
“The accused is found guilty of the charges in Counts 1, 3, and 4, and he is hereby convicted,” the court held.
The Sentence
The court sentenced Okandah to pay a mandatory fine of Sh4,749,597, the amount prosecutors say he fraudulently acquired in salaries, or serve 2 years in prison in default.
Magistrate Okore also imposed a fine of Sh100,000 for each of the 3 offenses, with a default sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment per count. All the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
The case forms part of the EACC’s ongoing efforts to root out fraud and integrity breaches in public institutions, particularly cases involving falsified academic credentials used to secure employment.
