Kenya Railways worker arrested over alleged forgery of KCSE certificate

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A 54-year-old Kenya Railways Corporation employee has been arrested in Mombasa after a two-year investigation into an alleged forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said Awange Oscar Akoth was arrested by detectives in Changamwe following investigations into the alleged forgery and use of a fraudulent KCSE certificate in connection with his employment at the corporation.

The case emerged after Kenya Railways conducted an authentication exercise to verify academic and professional certificates presented by its employees.

During the exercise, Akoth’s KCSE certificate, purportedly issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), was flagged for further scrutiny.

Subsequent verification by KNEC established that certificate number 624785, purportedly issued in 1993, had been forged.

According to detectives, grades in three subjects had allegedly been altered from D (Plain) to C (Plain), while the mean grade was also changed from D+ (Plus) to C (Plain).

Following the investigations, the case file was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for directions.

After reviewing the evidence, the ODPP directed that Akoth be charged with uttering a false document, contrary to Section 353 of the Penal Code, and fraudulent acquisition of public property, contrary to Section 45(1)(a) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act (ACECA).

The suspect remained at large as detectives pursued him before he was eventually traced to Mombasa.

Detectives caught up with Akoth in Changamwe, where he was arrested and taken into custody.

“Akoth is currently undergoing processing pending his arraignment before the Milimani Law Courts,” the DCI said.