Man charged with using forged journalism diploma to secure job at Kenya Railways, earning Sh1.9M

A man who allegedly used a forged Diploma Certificate in Journalism and Mass Communication to secure employment with the Kenya Railways Corporation (KR) where he earned a gross salary of Sh108,000 every month is facing fraud charges.

Edward Ngugi Gatheru is accused of forgery contrary to section 345 as read with section 349 of the Penal Code.

In the charge, Gatheru is accused of forging the document on or before March 1, 2021, purporting it to be a genuine diploma issued by the NIBS Technical College without lawful authority and with intent to deceive.

Gatheru allegedly used the forged certificate to show that he holds a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication to gain employment with the state corporation.

He earned a basic salary of 65, 450, a house allowance of Sh35,000 and a commuter allowance of Sh8,000 per month until July 2023.

The government is now pursuing Sh1.95 million from him which he was paid in salary during the employment.

Gatheru was dismissed by KR after the college's management indicated that the document did not originate from their institution.

The accused person faces an additional charge of uttering a false document contrary to section 353 of the Penal Code and has also been charged with fraudulent acquisition of public property contrary to section 45 (1) as read with section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (ACECA).

Gatheru is accused of knowingly and fraudulently uttering a forged document – Diploma Certificate in Journalism and Mass Communication at the KR headquarters in Nairobi on March 1, 2021, purporting it to be a genuine certificate.

He is also accused of fraudulently acquiring Sh1,945,161.24 which he was paid for the period he worked at the KR using the alleged forged document.

KR had written to NIBS Technical College to ascertain whether the certificate held by Gatheru and two other employees were genuine and that of Gatheru turned out negative.

Government institutions are investigating the academic certificates of all the staff to ascertain their authenticity and KR had written to the college during the exercise.

The college indicated that Gatheru was its student between 2011 and 2013 but it had not issued the certificate he presented to the KR.

KR escalated the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) after NIBS Technical College denied issuing Gatheru's diploma certificate and the DCI also wrote to the learning institution over the same during investigations.

DCI established that Gatheru completed his studies but did not sit the examinations and hence he was not given a diploma certificate.

The suspect was traced and arrested after investigations were concluded and he denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Douglas Mutiso of the Makadara Law Courts.

He was released on a bond of Sh1 million with a surety of a similar amount and an alternative cash bail of Sh500,000.

The case will be mentioned on November 11, 2024, before the hearing starts on April 29, 2025.