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Mystery surrounds the recovery of Sh300,000 from a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) centre manager in Garissa yesterday, sparking fears of a plot to compromise the exams.

The unnamed centre manager was caught carrying the huge amount of money which he could not account for as Form Four candidates prepared to sit their papers, prompting Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha to order for a thorough frisking of all officials and candidates involved in the exercise.

Prof Magoha, who was supervising the exercise in Murang’a county immediately ordered police officers to arrest those found with ‘unreasonable amounts of money’.

“Carrying large amounts of money to examination centres may mean one wants to compromise the administration of the exams. We were able to track some students who had unnecessary large amounts of money in their pockets for reasons best known to them,” Magoha said.

He said there is a possibility the money could be used to compromise the supervisors to aid in rigging the exams.

“If you are going to supervise the exam, there is no reason why you should be having like Sh200,000 in cash unless you have other fishy business,” said Magoha. The CS directed frisking of students taking the exam be vigorously conducted in order to close all possible exam malpractice loopholes.

On Monday, two students in Nairobi were found with cell phones but were allowed to continue with their exams.

“I have directed the supervisors to thoroughly but gently frisk all the students under the watch of the security agents and if they are found to have money, it should be kept in the office until the exercise is complete and the student is going home,” he said.

“Yesterday as you are aware, we confiscated some phones which were being used to communicate to the people outside and it’s very easy to compromise the parties involved,” he added.

Despite the instances, Magoha said the quality of KCSE exams remains uncompromised. He said the government is leaving nothing to chance to ensure the integrity of the exam is upheld to the end.

The CS said the government will also have additional security measures in all the examination centres to minimise room for rigging the exams.

The CS said they are on the look out for centers which request for large print papers for their students saying some actually do not require them.

“This could be a plan by the centre managers to have extra papers for them to leak the exams but we shall catch up with you. If there is anybody  who has taken money in exchange of getting the exam they  should give it back because there will be no room to get this leakage,” he said.

Exam on equal ground

Magoha said the government is working to ensure the candidates sit for the exam on equal grounds and there will be no students who will be disadvantaged than the others. He said exams in violence prone areas were delivered in time and the same shall be done until the exercise is complete.

Education Principal Secretary Julius Jwan was in Baringo on Day Two of KCSE, where he assured learners in the banditry prone areas of North Rift that security has been beefed up in the region.

According to Dr Jwan, all candidates in banditry prone regions will be provided with boarding facilities and meals during the examination period. “The government has set up temporary accommodation facilities for the candidates areas affected by insecurity,” said the PS who spoke in Kabarnet. 

He called on examination centre managers to uphold professionalism as they carry out their mandate. “The government is committed to ensuring a credible examination.  Any unruly behaviour on the side of examination managers will be met with the full force of the law.”

The runaway banditry in some parts of Kerio Valley and Baringo County has forced some learners to sit their exams in different schools after they were moved to safety. The region has experienced rampant cases of banditry for the better part of this year, which has left at least 20 people dead in the past two weeks alone forcing learners and their parents to flee the area.

A spot check by People Daily revealed that in Baringo County, nine centres are the most affected with the Ministry merging learners from different schools. Last week, six people were shot dead at Sinoni area in Baringo South sub-county sparking fears in the region. In another incident,  a senior police officer was shot dead while another one sustained injuries after they were ambushed at Kapkechir in the same  sub-county. The officers attached to the GSU based in Lamaiywe were carrying out their routine patrols in the volatile border when they ambushed by armed bandits.

People Daily has established that the bandits have turned the homes of residents who have fled the area to be their hideouts. More than 60 have been killed in the porous region in the past three months one as the situation threatens to get out of hand. 

– KNA and People Reporter