Margaret Mbugua, a former principal human‑resource officer at the Kiambu County Assembly, was convicted by the Milimani Anti‑Corruption Court on three counts after pleading guilty under a plea agreement with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The court imposed a fine of Ksh20,000 on each count, totalling Ksh60,000, and ordered Mbugua to pay Ksh1 million in compensation to the government for fraudulently acquiring public property.

If the fines remain unpaid, Mbugua faces a default sentence of six months’ imprisonment for each count.

The conviction stems from an investigation by the Ethics and Anti‑Corruption Commission, which found that Mbugua presented a forged Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education allegedly showing she sat exams at Gachoire Secondary School in 1996.

The forged certificate was submitted on 16 December 2011 at St Paul’s University in Kiambu County in an effort to secure her appointment at the County Assembly.

During her tenure from November 2020 to August 2025, Mbugua received a salary of Ksh4,921,953.80, which the court deemed obtained through fraudulent means.

The prosecution presented seven witnesses, including expert testimony, and relied on documentary evidence to substantiate the charges of fraudulent acquisition of public property, uttering a false document and presenting a forged certificate.

While the forgery charge was listed separately, Mbugua did not plead guilty to that count under the agreement.

The Ethics and Anti‑Corruption Commission welcomed the judgment, stating it should deter others from using falsified academic documents to obtain public jobs and access state funds.

Broader anti‑fraud efforts in Kenya

The case aligns with a wider government push to verify academic qualifications and scrutinise payrolls across ministries, departments, agencies and state corporations.

A recent forensic audit of 12 of 53 state departments uncovered suspected irregularities amounting to Ksh6.2 billion, underscoring the scale of payroll fraud concerns.