No, police are not leaking KCSE exam papers for bribes
By ANGIRA ZADOCKPolice have denied reports that they are involved in leaking Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination papers.
Kenya Police spokesman Charles Owino on Monday evening said it was not only immoral but unethical to be involved in leaking exams.
“Exams determine the quality of our education standards and must be taken seriously. This is a serious allegation that must not be handled casually,” he said.
Police have asked the senior politician behind the allegations to furnish the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) with all the evidence linking police to the leakage.
The allegations have been circulating on the social media and local radio stations.
“We demand that the concerned politician provides her evidence to EACC for investigations,” he said in a statement to newsrooms.
SENSATIONAL CLAIM
On Friday, the chairman of the National Assembly’s Education Committee, Ms Sabina Chege (Murang’a woman rep, TNA), sensationally claimed that rogue police officers were opening the exam papers and photocopying them using smartphones.
She claimed school principals and invigilators were part of the exam leakage since they refused to report the cases.
Mr Owino said police had for the last 50 years been involved in escorting and storing examination papers in police station armouries during exam periods.
“The examination is usually collected from KNEC stores in Nairobi and escorted to all regional stores in the country, where they remain under police guard,” he said.
He added that the papers were later escorted to police station armouries for temporary storage and easy delivery to schools.
“The exams are always in examination bags and securely sealed. At the examination centres, the seals are confirmed by the students and invigilators,” he said.
Mr Owino said police had not received any complaints that the seals on examination bags or envelopes had been tampered with in their armouries.
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