President William Ruto has sounded the alarm regarding around 2,100 individuals who allegedly fabricated their academic credentials to gain government positions.
“A simple audit has revealed that we have 2,100 people with fake certificates working for government.” He said
Speaking at the National Wage Bill Conference in Nairobi, Ruto highlighted the pervasive corruption within the public sector and its detrimental effect on national progress. He pledged to combat corruption, starting with holding accountable those who have illicitly amassed wealth from public office.
“We must deal firmly with corruption. There is a lot of wastage and theft in the public space. We can put more resources into development and I think we have now stabilised what we needed to stabilise. We will now confront corruption, head on, going forward,” he said.
The President also suggested that these individuals reimburse the unlawfully obtained funds to ensure accountability for their fraudulent actions.
“I anticipate that this conference will lead to an additional resolution regarding fake certificates. Those who have gained financially through forged credentials should reimburse the public funds,” he stated.
“Those who have earned money using fake certificates should refund us our public money. Isn’t it the equivalent of obtaining money by false pretence? They should leave, resign and go away and look for money to pay us the public resources that they have earned falsely,” said Ruto.
“We must do what we must do and I intend to do this. If the country is going to get where we want it to go, we must get the country where it is supposed to go.”