Nairobi City Water official charged with academic certificate forgery
National
By
Mike Kihaki
| Nov 10, 2025
A former Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) employee, Gladys Babra Asembo, has been charged before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court with forgery.
She was accused for allegedly using a forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) certificate to secure employment and fraudulently acquire over Sh8.3 million in public funds.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) arraigned Asembo on multiple charges, including fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery, uttering a false document, and deceiving a principal.
According to the charge sheet, Asembo is accused of fraudulently acquiring public property contrary to Section 45(1)(a) as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
The prosecution alleges that between June 27, 2012, and March 4, 2024, within Nairobi County, while serving as an ICT Assistant at NCWSC, she fraudulently acquired public property amounting to Sh6,236,053.10, being salaries earned through employment obtained using a forged KCSE certificate.
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On the second count, she faces the charge of forgery contrary to Section 345 as read with Section 349 of the Penal Code.
The charge sheet indicates that, on an unknown date and place within Kenya, with intent to deceive, she forged a KCSE certificate serial number 2024873 in her name Asembo Gladys Babra bearing a mean grade of C+ (plus) and purporting it to be a genuine certificate issued by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), a fact she allegedly knew to be false.
On the third count, she was accused of uttering a false document contrary to Section 353 as read with Section 349 of the Penal Code.
The particulars state that on July 4, 2016, at Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, she knowingly and fraudulently presented the forged KCSE certificate bearing serial number 2024873 and a mean grade of C+ from Makunda Mixed Secondary School, claiming it was a genuine document issued by KNEC with intent to secure employment.
In the fourth count, she was charged with deceiving a principal contrary to Section 41 as read with Section 48 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act No. 3 of 2003.
The charge sheet details that on July 4, 2016, within Nairobi County, being an employee of a public body NCWSC she knowingly and intentionally gave a false statement in her Employee Personal Details Form, indicating that she had attained a C+ mean grade in her KCSE examination, a fact she knew to be untrue.
The EACC launched investigations following a report that Ms. Asembo had used a falsified certificate to gain employment. Investigations confirmed that the certificate was fake and not issued by KNEC.
The case file was subsequently forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who approved the charges.
She was first arrested on September 3, 2025, and released on a cash bail of Sh25,000 pending arraignment on September 5. However, she failed to appear in court, prompting a warrant of arrest on September 17. She was re-arrested this week at her hideout and taken to court, where she denied all the charges.
She was released on a bond of Sh1 million with two sureties of a similar amount.
EACC reaffirmed its commitment to upholding integrity in public service, saying the case underscores ongoing efforts to root out corruption and fraud in state institutions.
“The Commission remains firm in its resolve to combat fraud and safeguard integrity within the public service sector,” EACC stated.