Former MCA forged academic certificates, court told
Fake academic certificates that were found with two suspects who were arrested in Eldoret town on October 30, 2019. An Eldoret court on September 28, 2022 heard that Kefa Sagini Nyakundi, a former Kisii County Assembly member who was arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives over forgery of academic certificates did not attend the school cited on his papers.
What you need to know:
- Former Kenyoro Secondary School chief principal Evans Angwenyi told Chief Magistrate Dennis Mikoyan that Kefa Sagini Nyakundi, a former Kegogi ward MCA, was not his student
- The principal was testifying in a case where the former MCA is charged with six counts of forgery and impersonation
A former member of the Kisii County Assembly who was arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives over forgery of academic certificates did not attend the school cited on his papers, an Eldoret court was told on Wednesday.
Former Kenyoro Secondary School chief principal Evans Angwenyi told Chief Magistrate Dennis Mikoyan that Kefa Sagini Nyakundi, a former Kegogi ward MCA, was not his student.
Mr Angwenyi told the court that he was the principal of the school between 1988 and 2018 but did not see Mr Nyakundi in the school.
The principal was testifying in a case where the former MCA is charged with six counts of forgery and impersonation.
Denied the charges
In the first charge, Mr Nyakundi is charged with providing false information to the EACC, contrary to Section 46 (1) and (2) of the Leadership and Integrity Act.
The charge sheet shows that on May 4, 2017 at the EACC desk at the Huduma Centre in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, he provided false information about his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) serial number belonging to Kepha S. Nyakundi.
He presented the certificate alongside a self-declaration form purporting to have been obtained from Kenyoro Secondary School in 2007 in order to get clearance to vie for the MCA’s seat.
Real certificate owner
But the principal identified the complainant, Kepha S. Nyakundi, as his former student.
“During my tenure at the school as a principal, the complainant who is here in court was my student and sat for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2007 as Kepha Nyakundi, and not the MCA who claims to have a KCSE certificate bearing the name Kepha S. Nyakundi,” Mr Angwenyi told the court.
In the second charge, the former MCA was accused of providing false information to Kisii University’s Eldoret campus in 2012 to gain admission using a certificate belonging to Kepha S. Nyakundi.
The court heard that he used the same false KCSE certificate to secure admission to the university to study for a bachelor’s degree in commerce.
Impersonation
Consequently, he was charged with another count of providing false information to a public entity through impersonation.
He was also charged with providing false documents in January 2015 to the Eldoret campus of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He allegedly used a false KCSE certificate to get admission to the university to study for a master’s degree in finance.
He was also charged with three other charges of impersonating Kepha S. Nyakundi.
He denied all the charges and was released on a Sh500,000 bond with a surety of the same amount, with an alternative cash bail of Sh200,000.
Seven witnesses have testified in the case and more than seven others are waiting to give their evidence.
The hearing continues on February 13, 2023.
