Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) has denied claims of witch-hunt in the dismissal and prosecution of 26 former employees accused of forging academic certificates to secure jobs.
The hospital’s director of human resource management and development, Anne Chemworsoio, told Eldoret chief magistrate Peter Ndwiga that due process was followed in handling the cases.
Ndwiga is hearing separate cases in which the former employees have denied forging academic certificates. Their lawyers have accused the hospital of conducting a witch-hunt in their dismissal and prosecution.
“There was no witch-hunt at all because any action taken was done through due procedure and as per the hospital code of conduct,” Chemworsoio said.
She told the court that MTRH, which has more than 3,400 employees, received instructions to authenticate academic certificates held by staff recruited between 2011 and 2022.
The exercise allegedly uncovered forged academic documents presented by the accused persons.
The hospital is seeking to recover more than Sh160 million from the 26 former employees, who held various mid-level positions. They were dismissed following a human resource audit that reportedly uncovered the use of forged academic papers to secure employment, promotions and financial benefits.
The hospital’s director of finance Mathew Birgen had earlier told the court that the institution was pursuing individual recoveries, including more than Sh6 million from one former employee.
The amount is said to represent salaries paid over more than 10 years before the alleged use of forged documents to secure employment was discovered.
“We received instructions from the government to carry out an audit of academic papers held by our employees, and we immediately did so, leading to the discovery of forged certificates presented by some of them,” Birgen said.
He said some of the accused were initially employed on contract before being absorbed on permanent and pensionable terms after allegedly presenting fake qualifications.
Birgen said the hospital conducted due diligence with relevant agencies, including the Kenya National Examinations Council, which confirmed that some of the academic papers presented were forged.
He told the court that the former employees had unlawfully benefited from public funds and that the hospital had been directed to work with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to recover the money.
The audit covered a 10-year period up to October 2020, with payslips and the disputed academic documents presented in court as evidence.
Birgen said some employees abandoned their posts when the audit began.
