The public service needs competent personnel to play its key role in national development. However, this is being undermined by the filling of key positions with people who have fake qualifications.
High-calibre workers are needed to explain government policies and monitor the implementation of programmes and projects. It is not easy to get the very best, as the public sector has become notorious for corruption and nepotism in staff recruitment. The public sector is also reeling under the ghost workers scam. These are non-existent employees listed on the public payroll, resulting in huge financial losses.
This widespread fraud is undermining performance. Also, the integrity of the public service is directly tied to the authenticity of the qualifications of the holders of various positions.
An increasing number of public officers have been found to have used forged certificates from local and foreign universities, tertiary private colleges, and even secondary schools to get jobs. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have confirmed that some unqualified individuals got senior appointments in the government and its agencies using forged papers.
A new bid to rid the civil service of the “fake” employees is long overdue. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has ordered a crackdown to weed out the civil servants with fake qualifications. The commission says the widespread fraud has compromised merit-based public service recruitment.
PSC wants to extend the verification to every public officer — from clerks to senior executives — irrespective of their year of appointment. The civil servants must authenticate their certificates by October 18.
The civil servants with fake papers should not just be kicked out of their positions, but must also be prosecuted for fraud.
