Nairobi

A Nairobi court has charged a staff member of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company with forging her secondary school certificate and fraudulently drawing millions of shillings in salaries over a decade.

Teresia Chepkemoi Chepkwony, who has worked as a revenue collection assistant, technician, and marketing assistant, appeared before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday. She faces charges of forgery, fraudulent acquisition of public property, and uttering a false document.

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Ms Chepkwony is accused of forging a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate in her name. The certificate indicated a mean grade of C+ from Boron Secondary School and purported to have been issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council. Prosecutors said she knew the document to be false.

“The court heard that on an unknown date and place, she forged a KCSE certificate with the intent to deceive,” the ODPP told the court.

Prosecutors further alleged that between March 2013 and December 2023, Ms Chepkwony received salaries totalling Sh7.5 million, money she would not have earned without the forged papers.

She is also accused of presenting the certificate to the company in September 2017 with the intent to mislead. Court documents show she declared a C+ mean grade in her personnel records, a claim prosecutors say was false, deceiving then Human Resource Manager, Titus Tuitoek.

Ms Chepkwony denied all the charges before Principal Magistrate C.N. Ondieki. The court released her on a bond of Sh500,000 with one surety of the same amount, or alternatively, a cash bail of Sh100,000.

The magistrate also directed her to provide two contact persons, with their full identification and phone details to be kept on the court file.

The case is due to be mentioned on September 3, 2025, for further directions.