A former human resource officer at the County Assembly of Kiambu has been fined Sh1.06 million after admitting to using falsified academic documents to secure public employment.
Margaret Njeri Mbugua was convicted by the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on October 22, 2026, after pleading guilty to three charges under a plea agreement with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Magistrate Isabellah Barasa fined Mbugua Sh20,000 on each of the three counts of fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document and presenting a forged certificate.
The court further ordered her to pay Sh1 million in compensation to the Government for fraudulently acquiring public property, bringing the total financial penalty to KSh1.06 million.
According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), investigations established that Mbugua submitted a forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate for examinations she purportedly sat in 1996 at Gachoire Secondary School.
The commission said she used the document to secure employment at the County Assembly of Kiambu, where she worked as a human resource officer.
Between November 2020 and August 2025, Mbugua received a total salary of Sh4,921,953.80 from the county assembly, according to the investigations.
She was initially charged with four offences: forgery of a KCSE certificate, fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document contrary to Section 353 as read with Section 349 of the Penal Code, and presenting a forged certificate contrary to Section 34(a) of the Kenya National Examinations Council Act.
However, she pleaded guilty to the latter three charges under the agreement with the DPP.
The forgery charge was not among the three counts on which she was convicted, according to the details provided by the commission.
The court imposed a default sentence of six months’ imprisonment for each of the three counts in the event of failure to pay the respective fines.
The EACC welcomed the conviction, saying the outcome should serve as a warning to individuals seeking public employment through fraudulent means.
The case highlights the risks posed by falsification of academic credentials in public service, where educational qualifications are often used to determine eligibility for employment and professional responsibilities.
The commission has continued to investigate allegations of corruption and fraudulent acquisition of public resources, including cases involving individuals accused of obtaining government salaries through deception.
Mbugua’s conviction follows the court’s determination of the three offences to which she admitted guilt, with the financial penalties and compensation order imposed as part of the sentence delivered on Thursday.