Seventeen mobile phones have been confiscated from students sitting the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams in Marsabit County after KNEC officials uncovered two separate incidents of cheating in Moyale and Saku constituencies.
Nine students were caught with the devices at Sessi Mixed Secondary School in Moyale, while another eight private candidates were nabbed in Saku.
Marsabit Central Assistant County Commissioner David Saruni confirmed the incident, saying investigations are ongoing to establish how the students managed to sneak the phones into the examination rooms.
According to the police report, KNEC officials on duty became suspicious during routine checks and ordered a random inspection. It was during this exercise that they discovered the mobile phones hidden among the students’ belongings.
The report read in part, “After the recovery, the nine candidates were allowed to continue with their Chemistry Paper One exam, code 233/1, at Sessi Mixed.”
The phones were then handed over to the DCI for further analysis, as education and security teams at the sub-county level were briefed on the matter.
In total, 4,126 candidates are sitting their KCSE exams in Marsabit county at 51 centres.
The arrests come against the backdrop of renewed crackdown on examination malpractice, especially those involving digital leaks. Joint investigations by DCI and KNEC linked at least 51 Telegram channels to suspected examination cheating networks between last year and August this year. Of these, 32 have so far been shut down, while 19 others remain under surveillance, though most are said to have since gone dormant.
Fraudsters, according to the authorities, were increasingly targeting students, parents, and teachers through Telegram and WhatsApp groups by promising them leaked exam papers in exchange for money.
A total of 996,078 students countrywide are sitting for this year’s KCSE exams that end on November 21.
