13 suspects in exam cheating yet to be arraigned

Hezta School exam center manager under arrest over alleged exam irregularities. [John Githinji, Standard]

13 people suspected of engaging in exam irregularities in Nyamira County are yet to be arraigned six days after they were arrested.

The suspects were arrested from two examination centers, one in Nyamira South and another in Manga Sub-county, after they were arrested on suspicion of cheating in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.

Six are private candidates from a center in Nyamira Town while the other seven include an exam center manager who is also the institution’s principal, a supervisor, two invigilators, a chemistry teacher, and a lab technician from the same learning center.

Nyamira County Commissioner, Amos Mariba, had earlier on said the 13 would be charged on Tuesday, after the Easter Holiday.

The private candidates had to sit for the Biology and Mathematics papers at the Nyamira Police Station on Tuesday morning. They were to be charged in the afternoon but their files had not been processed.

Overseeing the distribution of the exams in the area on Wednesday morning, Nyamira South Deputy County Commissioner, Julius Otieno, said the candidates will sit for Fasihi and Religious Education papers at the station where they are being held.

"It is their right. Let them do the exams," Otieno said.

When asked why the suspects have not taken plea, Nyamira’s representative of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Desmond Majale, said they will be arraigned when the files are complete.

“The files are still being processed and they will be arraigned in court once the process is complete,” said Majale.