In a significant blow to public-sector document forgery, the Anti-Corruption Court in Nairobi has sentenced former Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) worker David Mogire Nyabuti to 11 years in prison or a fine exceeding KSh 16 million after finding him guilty of presenting fake academic and disability certificates to secure employment and financial perks.
Delivering the judgment, Senior Principal Magistrate C. Okore ruled that the prosecution, led by Naomi Isoe, successfully proved that Nyabuti fraudulently acquired public property and uttered false documents contrary to Section 353 of the Penal Code. The convict was ordered to pay KSh 14,946,118 in compensation for the illegal salaries and benefits he received, with a default sentence of five years in prison. Additionally, the court slapped him with a KSh 900,000 fine for fraudulently acquiring public property (or two years in default) and KSh 200,000 on each of two counts of uttering false documents (or two years in default for each). The default prison terms are set to run concurrently.
The trial revealed that Nyabuti had originally sat for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations in 1994 at St Paul's Igonga Secondary School, scoring a mean grade of D-. However, he forged his examination documents to reflect a mean grade of C-, using the altered credentials to gain admission to the Kenya Power Training School and later secure employment at KenGen as a Craft Grade III worker in August 2003. Over his 15-year tenure at the power generating company, he drew salaries and benefits totaling over KSh 14.9 million.
Beyond the academic fraud, Nyabuti exploited statutory affirmative action benefits designed for vulnerable groups. The court established that he fraudulently obtained a disability certificate from the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD). Between July 2014 and September 2018, he utilized the false certificate to claim tax exemptions reserved for persons living with disabilities.
Nyabuti's fraudulent scheme collapsed in September 2018 when KenGen instituted an internal verification exercise requiring all staff to produce their original academic certificates. Unable to present the authentic documentation, Nyabuti abruptly resigned, triggering an investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) that eventually led to his prosecution.
