The government fired 449 civil servants who were found to have used fake academic certificates to secure employment and promotions, a report of the Public Service Commission (PSC) shows.
The Annual Compliance Report for the 2023/2024 Financial Year noted that the worker sacked represented 52.3 per cent of the total number of employees who used fake certificates.
“Out of 1,019 officers found with fake certificates, action was taken on 744 (73 per cent) officers,” the report said.
The report noted that 79 (7.8 per cent) officers were still undergoing investigation and no action was taken on 15 (1.5 per cent).
“The status of action taken on 181 (17.8 per cent) officers was not indicated,” it added.
The report further noted that 181 (21.1 per cent) resigned while 26 (three per cent) retired.
It added that 10 (1.2 per cent) went through a disciplinary process while eight (0.9 per cent) were referred for prosecution.
“The disciplinary process for 70 (8.1 per cent) was still
ongoing while the investigation process was still ongoing for 79 (9.2 per cent),”
the report stated.
The PSC observed that although most (70.5 per cent) institutions reported having undertaken authentication exercises on the academic and professional certificates of their staff, the status of authentication of certificates for most of the officers was not indicated.
“Most (67 per cent) of the institutions that had not authenticated certificates of their officers committed to do so by June 30, 2025,” PSC said.
PSC recommended all public institutions to institutionalise
authentication of certificates of officers before issuance of appointment
letters at the entry-level and those being considered for promotional appointments.
The Commission, vide circular Ref. No. PSC.3/1/1/IV/32/25 and Ref. No. PSC/ADM/13(42) had asked institutions to authenticate academic and professional certificates used by officers to secure appointments and promotions.
Institutions were directed to terminate the service of any officer found to have used forged certificates to secure appointments and promotions and forward the names to EACC.
The evaluation sought to determine the status of authentication of academic and professional certificates and the action taken against officers found with fake certificates.
