Education CS Fred Matiangi at a past event. [PHOTO/the-star.co.ke]
Police have unearthed a racket producing fake degree certificates.
The papers are from Inoorero University that was shut by the higher education regulator back in 2015 and given a two-year grace period to enable continuing students to complete their programmes after the institution was declared bankrupt.
According to Nation, a top administrator at the university is now under investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) as he is said to be the mastermind behind the scheme.
The investigation came after an airline operating in Nairobi discovered one of its top employees had a ‘suspicious’ degree certificate.
Another 'graduate' was later found with a fake degree certificate, compounding the matter.
“It came to our attention that the verdict of one of the degrees presented and issued by Inoorero University was unverifiable,” said a March 15 letter addressed to DCI director Ndegwa Muhoro as copied to Education CS Fred Matiang’i.
“The comparison of the signature of the deputy vice-chancellor for academic affairs issued on the same date for another candidate differs from hers. We also discovered that the fonts on her certificate differ from those of other degrees issued at Inoorero University,” states the letter.
Also, the graduation list for the particular graduation ceremony does not have the employee's name.
“We also sought for verification from the university’s transition office and a senior official confirmed that the degree was valid,” said the airline.
The letter adds: “ In view of the above, we have strong grounds to request DCI to investigate this alleged fraud. It seems as if there is a racket to issue degree certificates and backdate them. The same signatory also appears on the certificate.”