President William Ruto has expressed concern about the existence of approximately 2,100 people who have falsified academic credentials in order to obtain government employment.
Ruto, speaking at the third edition of the National Wage Bill Conference in Nairobi on Wednesday, emphasised the severity of corruption in the public sector and its impact on national development.
He also emphasised his commitment to combating corruption, emphasising that confronting individuals who have illegally accumulated wealth from the State while in office is the first step in addressing the problem.
"We must deal firmly with corruption. There is a lot of wastage and theft in the public space. We can put more resources into development and I think we have now stabilised what we needed to stabilise. We will now confront corruption, head on, going forward," he said.
"A simple audit has revealed that we have 2,100 people with fake certificates working for government."
The President further proposed that the individuals repay the funds they acquired fraudulently as a means to hold them accountable for their forgery.
"From this conference, I hope we are going to add one more resolution on fake certificates. Those who have earned money using fake certificates should refund us our public money," he said.
The Head of State simultaneously urged the individuals to step down from their positions.
"Those who have earned money using fake certificates should refund us our public money. Isn't it the equivalent of obtaining money by false pretence? They should leave, resign and go away and look for money to pay us the public resources that they have earned falsely," said Ruto.
"We must do what we must do and I intend to do this. If the country is going to get where we want it to go, we must get the country where it is supposed to go."