A section of leaders from Garissa have threatened to sue the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) over cancellation of results for some students in the area.
Addressing the press during the release of KNEC investigations Tuesday, the council chairman Prof. George Magoha said the exam body cancelled the results of 3,427 countrywide candidates over exam irregularities.
At least 500 students in Garissa County had their results cancelled. Among the schools whose results were withheld include Busra, Nanighi, Ikhlas, Al azhar, Dertu Girls’, Young Muslim, Garissa Private, Sankuri, Hajji Girls’, Hulugho Girls’, Hulugho Boys and Huda.
Magoha said the affected candidates came from 44 centers across the country, adding that the malpractice occurred due to negligence of some officials.
Balambala MP Omar Shurie while speaking in Sankuri, one of the schools that had the results of all their students cancelled, wondered how the candidates could have engaged in exam malpractice considering how the exam was strictly supervised.
“What KNEC has done amounts to a criminal act and cannot go unchallenged in a court of law. As leaders we won’t seat down and watch as our innocent children are forced to pay for crimes they did not commit,” Shurie said.
The Garissa KNUT executive secretary Abdirizack Hussein said the students were already disillusioned by the move to have their results cancelled and warned that it is such acts that drive youth to engage in criminal activities.
“As leaders we deliberate and come up with a common stand. The most likely route we will take is that of court. We strongly believe that this was a move only meant to punish our innocent young boys and girls whose only crime was to sit for the exam,” Abdirizack said.
Sankuri secondary school administration has remained tight lipped over the matter and was not willing to comment on the latest development.
Meanwhile, the KNEC chair had said the students are free to register for the 2019 exam instead of having to wait for 3 years as provided for in law.
By Jacob Songok
