Investigators are pursuing a former ward administrator in Kisii County over more than Sh3 million in salary and allowances.
According to the investigators, Evans Nyaoka Rambeka also lacked the requisite academic qualifications for the position.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) wants the High Court to order Rambeka to return the money he earned over the course of three years on the basis of forged academic certificates.
The information was revealed during a hearing before Justice Esther Maina in which EACC had filed a complaint against Rambeka.
The EACC is attempting to reclaim Sh3,162,452 that was improperly paid to the former ward administrator.
Read:Â All Eyes on DPP As EACC Pushes For Waiguru, Kuria Prosecution
Rambeka, who is serving a one-year prison sentence for falsifying academic papers, told Justice Maina that he did his job well.
The convict, through his lawyer Danstan Omari, requested the court not to grant the EACC’s request for the money, claiming that none of the two documents, including a diploma in human resource management from the Kenya Institute of Management, were forged.
According to his advocate, he did not have the appropriate academic papers when he applied for the post, but was still considered for it.
“If the employer (Kisii County government) decided to employ me without academic qualifications, I am not to blame,” he argued.
The accused further distanced himself from the two certificates in question, claiming that someone in the county government fabricated the documents in his name and filed them at the assembly.
“I totally deny the averments by EACC as I am not aware how the said documents got into my employment file and that is a clear indication of malicious political acts emanating from the county government of Kisii to implicate me for wrongs I never did,” he told the court.
The EACC, through Linet Onyambu, a deputy director human resources in the Kisii County government, pleaded with the court to order the money’s recovery.
Mr Rambeka got the money for 38 months as a result of the education testimonials submitted to the county, she told the court.
“(Mr Rambeka) received salaries and allowances amounting to Sh3,162,452, which were deposited to his Family Bank and Chase Bank accounts (in) different periods of his employment,” Ms Onyambu said.
Mr Rambeka worked for the county from February 2014 to March 2017 when the anti-graft agency raised the red flag, according to the court. He was also penalized Sh450,000 for using fraudulent academic diplomas to gain the job.
Read Also:Â Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi Summoned By EACC
The accused was not enrolled as a student at the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM), according to Maureen Busolo, a witness said.
It was also revealed that the admission numbers on the diplomas belong to two other people.
“The two forged certificates in issue, certificate No. 47204 and diploma certificate No. 8854, actually belonged to Fransisca Kerubo Ochwangi, who graduated in the year 2010, and Lois Moringo Kaburi in the year 2006 respectively,” Ms Busolo, the head of education at KIM, testified.
Mr Rambeka’s employment as ward administrator was likewise fraudulent, illegal, and void, said the anti-graft agency.
The agency wants the court to determine that “(Mr Rambeka) should not have been paid Sh3,162,452 in wages and allowances by the Kisii County Government.”
The accused person was charged with five charges by the EACC.
In 2019, Chief Magistrate Nathan Lutta of Kisii condemned him to a year in prison for falsifying academic documents.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874. You can also find us on Telegram through www.t.me/kahawatungu
Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings