The High Court in Nairobi has rejected an application seeking to stop a criminal case against a 28-year-old man accused of forging international vaccination certificates and vaccine stamps.
The decision, issued on Thursday, October 22, allows the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to continue with the trial at Kahawa Law Courts.
“He is charged with making a false document, contrary to Section 347(a), as read with Section 349, and forgery, contrary to Section 352(a) of the Penal Code,” ODPP wrote in a statement on Thursday, October 22.
His arrest in August 2025 followed investigations by detectives from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) into the alleged production of fraudulent health documents.
A photo of the Kahawa Law Courts.
Photo
Prosecutors alleged that between July 1 and August 8, 2025, he worked with other individuals who have not been charged in the case to produce yellow fever vaccination certificates falsely presented as having been issued by Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital.
They were recovered from six Somali nationals intercepted at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on August 8, 2025, while they were allegedly being smuggled to Libya through Egypt.
He is also accused of forging six injectable polio vaccine stamps on certificates purportedly issued by Port Health Services at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.
The certificates were found during a search of his residence in the Claywork area of Kasarani, Nairobi, where a counterfeit Port Health officer’s seal was also found.
Investigators also reported finding 274 blank international vaccination certificates and 91 single-dose vaccination cards.
The accused had filed the case against the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court, the Inspector General of Police, the DPP and the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in an effort to challenge the prosecution.
In his application, he challenged the legality of the criminal proceedings, arguing that police officers searched his residence without a warrant.
The accused maintained that documents allegedly recovered during the raid were later used as evidence against him despite having been obtained in violation of his rights.
He also denied knowing about the documents cited in the case.
The DPP opposed the application, relying on Section 57 of the National Police Service Act, which allows officers to enter premises without a warrant in specified circumstances, subject to constitutional safeguards.
The development comes amid a wider crackdown on document forgery, with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) recently arresting a former Office of the Auditor-General employee accused of using a fake KCSE certificate to secure a job and fraudulently obtain Ksh5.8 million in public funds.
Judge Gavel Hammer
File