Nairobi arrests exam chiefs in cheating probe

NAIROBI: Kenya’s education minister on Thursday disbanded the national school examinations board and ordered the arrest of nine top officials for alleged corruption scandals involving mass cheating.
Government investigations found officials in the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) had taken part in leaking examinations to teachers and students, education minister Fred Matiang’i told reporters.
“The government has decided that it is time to act and reform that institution to restore its credibility, therefore we have dissolved the board of the KNEC with immediate effect,” Matiang’i told reporters, sitting alongside Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery, who ordered the officials’ arrest.
“There have been quite a lot of discrepancies in the examinations which have damaged the future of over 5,000 school children,” Matiang’i said.
Warrants for the arrest of nine top KNEC officials were issued including for the board’s CEO, Joseph Kivilu. Recent national examinations have been marred by discovery of test papers found days before they were due to be held.
Questions were exchanged by text messages and on social media, with some sold for around $10 dollars, according to the Daily Nation newspaper.