The Education Cabinet Secretary (CS), Prof. George Magoha has confirmed the arrest of eleven people in Kisii County for alleged impersonation in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations (KCSE).
Prof. Magoha said the culprits from a private institution, Miliman Ramasha Academy had fake Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) register, complete with photographs to hoodwink examinations officials.
Speaking on Tuesday afternoon after he made a surprise visit to Kisumu Boys and Kisumu Girls, the CS said among those in police custody is the owner of the school.
Last month, the ministry identified Kisii, Homa Bay and Migori in Nyanza region among other 12 counties as examination cheating hot spots.
Prof. Magoha has also directed all examination center managers to ensure school gates remained opened adding that additional security officers would be posted to schools with larger candidature.
The CS said this is part of the surveillance measures put in place to ensure no tricks were done during examination period.
He cited a case of a school he made an unplanned visit to last year and it took about ten minutes for the key to the gate to be found, saying he was certain something fishy was being done.
The CS also said his officers have flagged another school in Thika, Kiambu County where strangers were found sitting the examinations.
He singled another incident in Homa Bay County where one of the supervisors exposed Chemistry paper before due time, but added that the move was thwarted on time.
“I want to give an assurance that the government is vigilant and drastic action will be taken against anybody involved in cheating,” he said.
“If a teacher registered by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is involved, then the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nancy Macharia will take the necessary disciplinary action,” warned the CS.
He reiterated that in centers where cheating would be detected, the center managers, supervisors and invigilators would face the full force of the law.
Prof. Magoha said those who have been arrested have been handed over to the police for complete investigation and prosecution.
By George Kaiga
