Fifteen KCSE candidates arrested and charged for possessing 2015 KCSE papers

Lawyer James Obara (right) consults his clients at a Mombasa Court on Thursday 22nd October 2015. The suspects are amongst 14 others charged with being in possession of KCSE Kiswahili paper 1 and 2. They were released on a cash bail of Sh50,000 and their case will be mentioned on November 12. PHOTO/KELVIN KARANI

MOMBASA: Fifteen students were Thursday charged with being in possession of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examinations (KCSE).

The privately registered students pleaded not guilty to the offense before Mombasa Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubhi and were each released on a Sh800,000 surety bond.

Through their lawyer, James Obara the students had asked the court for a bond so that they could be able to continue with their examinations.

The prosecution told the court that the 15 students were found in possession of Kiswahili paper 1 and 2 while conducting some revisions in Changamwe in Mombasa County.

They were arrested on Wednesday by a special team of police officers from Nairobi who found them going through the alleged exams papers at Changamwe primary school that.

It is not clear where they got the alleged genuine papers or if someone sold them to them. By last evening it was not clear if the students who looked distraught had raised the bond or been freed.
Obara told the magistrate that one of the accused had a seven months old baby and could not stay away for long from her baby.

The fate of the arrested candidates, 5 males and 10 females now lies in the balance as this might force them not to continue with the exams.

Parents and guardians who were in court following the proceedings were further heart-broken after the magistrate's bond terms. The case will be heard on November 26.