Nairobi Water official convicted over forged academic documents

A Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company official has been convicted for uttering a forged academic certificate in a bid to secure employment at the utility firm.

The accused, Joseph Kihara Kaburugu, was found guilty of presenting a forged Diploma in Sports Science Management, purportedly from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

Investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) established that the document was fake, leading to his arraignment on January 21, 2025 before Chief Magistrate Harrison Barasa at the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court.

Appearing before before Miliman Anti-Corruption Court Chief Magistrate Harrison Barasa on January 21, 2025, Kaburugu denied the charges of forgery and uttering a false document.

But after the trial, the court on September 30, 2025, found him guilty of uttering a false document contrary to Section 353 of the Penal Code. He was, however, acquitted of the forgery charge under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

On October 2, 2025, the court sentenced him to pay a fine of Ksh.100,000 or serve one year in prison in default.