Nairobi Water employee fined Kes8.5 million for using forged academic certificate
4:11:2025: The Milimani Anti-Corruption Court has fined Felix Ojwang Balamu, an employee of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Limited (NCWSC), a total of Kes8.5 million for using a forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) to secure employment at the company.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) launched investigations after receiving allegations that Balamu had used a falsified KCSE certificate to obtain his position on November 9, 2011. The inquiry established that the suspect had forged the academic document, purporting it to be a genuine certificate issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), which he then used to gain employment at NCWSC.
Following the investigations, the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) concurred with the Commission’s recommendation to charge. Balamu was arraigned before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on February 25, 2025, facing four counts: fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, deceiving a principal, and presenting a forged certificate. He was convicted.
Delivering judgment on October 10, 2025, Hon. Selesa Okore found the accused guilty of fraudulent acquisition of public property amounting to Kes8,243,562, representing the total salary he unlawfully earned from NCWSC. He was also convicted on two other counts of deceiving a principal and presenting a false certificate. The court, however, acquitted him on the charge of forgery.
He was sentenced today to a fine of Kes100,000 and an additional amount of Kes8,243,562, equivalent to the money lost, or in default, to serve four years’ imprisonment in count one.
The Court also sentenced him to a fine of Kes100,000 each for the counts of deceiving a principal and presenting a false KCSE certificate, or two years imprisonment in each.
In total, the accused was fined Kes8,543,562, or to serve four years in prison, with the sentences set to run concurrently.
The judgement underscores the EACC’s resolve to recover public funds lost through fraudulent employment and to ensure that integrity and accountability remain central to the management of public institutions.
