Ex-KenGen Employee Convicted for Using Fake KCSE Certificate, Faces KSh16M Fine or 11 Years

A former employee of the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) is staring down a penalty of nearly KSh16 million or a lengthy prison sentence after a court found him guilty of using forged documents to land a job and access tax benefits at the state-owned energy firm.

David Mogire Nyabuti was convicted at the Anti-Corruption Court following a prosecution that demonstrated he had presented a fake Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) result and a fraudulent disability document to fraudulently benefit from public funds.

What the Court Ordered

Senior Principal Magistrate C. Okore handed down the ruling, directing Nyabuti to pay KSh14.95 million as compensation for the public funds he illegally obtained. In addition, he was slapped with a fine of KSh900,000 for the offence itself, pushing the total financial liability to roughly KSh16 million.

Should Nyabuti fail to raise the compensation amount, he faces a nine-year custodial sentence as an alternative. The KSh900,000 fine carries a separate default term of two years, meaning the combined imprisonment could stretch to as long as 11 years if he is unable to pay either sum.

How the Fraud Was Uncovered

Prosecutors argued that Nyabuti exploited the forged KCSE certificate to secure his position at KenGen, one of Kenya's largest public utilities, responsible for generating a significant portion of the country's electricity. The disability document, meanwhile, was allegedly used to access tax-related benefits he was not entitled to claim.

The conviction underscores the mandate of the Anti-Corruption Court to pursue cases where public institutions suffer financial harm through deception, particularly those involving the manipulation of official academic and medical credentials.

KenGen, fully known as the Kenya Electricity Generating Company, is a publicly listed firm in which the government of Kenya holds a majority stake. It operates hydroelectric, geothermal, wind and thermal power plants across the country, making it a central pillar of the national energy infrastructure.