KAIKAI’S KICKER: Degree of fake swallowing Kenya

On my Kicker tonight, a Public Service Commission (PSC) report has dragged the skunk back to the centre of the Kenyan house. And the stench is not just unbearable but cruel in its nasal reminder of the reality that our nation Kenya is a country in the grip of the fake.

The audit by the PSC found that over 2,000 civil servants used fake academic papers and dubious professional certificates to secure jobs in government. The Chairperson of the PSC, Anthony Muchiri, said over 700 public servants used forged documents to secure appointments, promotions and even redesignation of roles within the government of Kenya. The wide-ranging audit covered more than 300 public institutions with findings placing forged qualifications in government ministries, parastatals and even public universities among others.

The Ministry of Interior, the heart of public administration, had 103 cases of fake certificates, the bulk of them being the Kenya national examination certificates; 78 cases of forged certificates at the Interior ministry involved primary and secondary school certificates. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 3 of four cases involved forged degree certificates.

Fake qualifications spread out to science and research institutions and even hospitals. At the practical level, the audit suggests many Kenyans get services from persons that may not have qualified to offer them in the first place.

The PSC has handed the report to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for investigations and prosecution of the culprits. As we await any action from the EACC and the DCI, a number of questions beg answers; how deep is the rot? How long has the practice gone on, and what is the age of the oldest culprit? When did the country drop the ball and what happens to those in authority who made it possible for the fake culture to thrive? And just a by the way, looking at all possibilities - what if those who have been tasked with investigations into the menace are themselves holding fake certificates?

There is only one bottom-line in my view; kimeturamba! Fake is biting Kenyans back. Years of nurturing a culture of integrity-free rides to the top, crooked fast-lanes, shortcuts to academic and professional qualifications, wealth and prosperity are finally taking a toll on the country's fabric. 2,000 civil servants may just be a drop in the ocean.

What if the PSC or any other relevant entity tried a similar audit on all elective positions? How many fake certificates would they land across national and county elective positions? In the run up to the last general election for example, the EACC flagged over 200 individuals as unsuitable to run for office, some of them on grounds of forged academic qualifications. Yet some of those who made the EACC list of infamy, still made it to elective office in a way that confirms in no uncertain terms that in Kenya, fake is no pushover.

We remain, after all, the home of ‘wash wash,’ fake gold and fake miracles. It should not be surprising when culprits in the PSC audit report fire just one simple question; who will cast the first stone?

That is my Kicker!