27 police recruits arrested over fake certificates

Twenty seven police recruits were arrested for using fake certificates to get into the police force four months ago.

The recruits were ejected from the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo and Embakasi GSU College on Monday and later taken to court in Makadara, Nairobi.

Officials said they were detected after Kenya National Examination Council gave a report on the documents that they used in joining the colleges.

Fourteen were arrested from GSU while the rest were picked up from Kiganjo and spent the night at the Embakasi Police Station before being taken to court on Tuesday.

Nine recruits had in June been arrested in Nyeri and charged with altering official documents and false pretence to gain employment.

Kiganjo Commandant Peter Kavila said they are waiting for more reports from the examination body on the recruits’ certificates before they can take any action.

“Once we get a full report we will take action as recommended. If they are found to be fake they will have to face the law,” he said.

Administration Police Training College Commandant Shurie Omar said they are waiting for reports from various Government agencies on the status of the recruits’ papers before they take action.

“It takes time because they are many and once we receive the reports we will take action,” he said.

Treading carefully

The recruits joined their respective colleges more than four months ago.

They are supposed to undergo a 15- month training before they can be deployed.

There are fears that chasing them away at this stage could be dangerous given that they have had a bit of military training.

Both police forces recruited more than 7,000 recruits in an exercise that received commendations from various stakeholders because of the open manner in which it was conducted.

Two of the candidates nabbed in Nyeri had never sat or registered for KCSE examinations.

Others had altered grades to suit the minimum requirement for joining the police force.