About 79 employees of Nyamira County Government are at risk of losing their jobs after it was revealed that they used fake academic certificates to secure employment and promotions.

At the same time, Nyamira governor Amos Nyaribo  has disclosed that the county government has withheld their salaries and forwarded their names to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for further action.

Addressing the media on Friday May 3, 2024 at the County Headquarters, Nyaribo said this was the first purge aimed at cleaning the county payroll by weeding out unqualified individuals who have been gobbling millions of shillings from county coffers.

“I made a pledge to the people of Nyamira that I will safeguard County resources, ensure integrity and uphold the constitution in my position as Governor. To safeguard the integrity of our payroll and Public Service, the County Government of Nyamira undertook a process of verification and authentication of academic and professional certificates for our staff,” Governor Nyaribo said.

“The first batch of 2,821 K.C.S.E Certificates were submitted to the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) for authentication. KNEC submitted a report to us in April. The report from KNEC, indicates alterations of mean grades, subject scores, and exam center codes. In some cases, the index numbers in the certificates did not belong to the officers while others replaced names on certificates with theirs,” he added.

According to the County Chief, the affected departments include Health (24 cases), Finance and Public Service Management (13 cases each), Governor’s Office and Lands (9 cases each), Education and Environment (3 cases each), and Gender, Trade, and Public Service Board (1 case each).

Governor Nyaribo further noted that the second batch of academic certificates will be submitted to KNEC and middle level colleges next week for verification.

In addition, the governor said that some 245 staff had cheated their way in getting promotions but soon this report will be made manifest.

“There is an individual, who promoted himself after just a single day. We will not spare such people,” Nyaribo said.

According to governor Nyaribo, the 79 employees whose salaries were stopped have been taking home Sh4.8 million per month.

Some of the employees whose salaries have been stopped hold senior positions in the county government. 

In May 2023, the governor announced the start of the staff audit, two senior officers from the Human Resource Department were arrested by the DCI over abuse of office.