NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 10 (KNQA)- Kenya National Qualifications of Authority (KNQA) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) have agreed to work together in handling academic fraud in the country.
In a meeting on Tuesday at DCI Headquarter in Nairobi, and which was attended by KNQA chairman Dr Kilemi Mwiria, KNQA Director General Dr Juma Mukhwana and DCI Director George Kinoti, agreed to form an inter-agency team to handle fake certificates in the country.
The team is expected to expedite its work and net the suspects whom Dr Mwiria said are using the documents to seek employment.
“We are working with all stakeholders to eradicate this practice that is denying Kenyans with genuine academic documents, an opportunity to benefit from their hard work in school,” said Dr Mwiria during the meeting.
DCI Kinoti said the special team that will work with KNQA is experienced in dealing with academic fraud.
He said DCI has been dealing with the cases and it will be happy to partner with KNQA.
Dr Mukhwana said the authority need prosecution power in order to deal with Kenyans who present fake academic documents during recognition and verification.
“We used to turn away people with fake academic qualifications and now with the partnership, the authority will hand them over to DCI,” said Dr Mukhwana.
The KNQA chairperson added that it will also be important to work with county governments and other state agencies in order to vet academic certificates of their workers.
Dr Mukhwana disclosed that a third of Kenyans have fake academic documents and therefore the need to take action against such individuals.
He said the authority is working together with learning institutions to ensure that learners are admitted in programmes that they qualify to study.
“We are working together with universities, TVET and foreign institutions to ensure that the country has genuine and quality qualifications,” said Dr Mukhwana.
The authority’s leadership has since met with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Immigration Services Department for partnership.
The Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) and the Immigration Services Department have also agreed to partner in order to stamp out fake certificates.
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