A City Hall employee, Lawrence Barasa, on Friday, April 25, 2025, pleaded not guilty to different charges of forging a certificate and fraudulent acquisition of Ksh7,173,963 in salaries.
Barasa is accused of forging a certificate in Information Technology, which was supposedly issued by the Eldoret National Polytechnic to enable him to secure employment with the Nairobi County government.
Appearing before Milimani Anti-Corruption Court Chief Magistrate Charles Ondieki, Barasa denied all four charges levelled against him of fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery of academic certificates, uttering false documents, and deceiving the principal.
The Anti-Corruption Court Chief Magistrate Ondieki released the accused on a bond of Ksh1 million with surety of a similar amount or an alternative of a Ksh200,000 cash bail.
Prosecution’s argument
The prosecution team told the court that the accused person, while working at the Nairobi City Water Sewerage Company Limited as an ICT Assistant between August 2016 and November 2023, received salaries amounting to Ksh7 million.
According to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Barasa, on an unknown date, knowingly altered the Diploma certificate from Eldoret National Polytechnic dated September 13, 2010, intending to defraud the county government.
On October 7, 2016, he was accused of knowingly uttering a false document and intentionally fooling his employer by claiming he had a diploma from Eldoret National Polytechnic and updating his Personnel Record Form with the false details.
The DPP stated that they have enough evidence to prove that Barasa, while working as a public officer, forged his academic papers to get a job at the Nairobi County government unlawfully.
Magistrate’s observations
In his ruling, the Anti-Corruption Court Chief Magistrate Ondieki stated that the DPP charges are merited but allowed the accused person to prepare to defend himself in the hearing scheduled for next month.
“After interrogating the evidence on record, I find that the prosecution has made out a prima facie case on each of the four charges. Consequently, the accused is called upon to provide a defence on each,” Magistrate Ondieki ruled.
Meanwhile, Barasa asked the court to grant him 21 days to prepare for his defence.
The court granted him his request and directed that the matter would be heard on May 23, 2025, at 9 am.