With few days left before the start of the Kenya national examinations, a 23-year-old has been apprehended selling the papers at Ksh1,500.
According to a statement released by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the suspect is a Christian Religious Education (CRE) teacher from St Lilian Academy in Gikambura village.
DCI identified the suspect as Nicholas Ngumbau Kalewa alias ‘Mr Examiner’ who had allegedly opened various social media platforms where he was selling exam papers starting from Ksh1,500.
“Mr Examiner, had opened over 10 WhatsApp and Telegram accounts where he was hawking the fake examination papers at a partly Ksh1,500 per paper and Ksh2,000 for a complete examination paper with its marking scheme. In the typical conman’s language, he cautioned the over 900 parents and students in the group not to introduce other matters, as he was busy attending to those who were willing to buy,” DCI’s statement read in part.
“He further cautioned the group members to be very cautious of scammers, since he was the only one with legit papers. The suspect who had used a stolen identity card to register the SIM cards that he was using had also opened a bank account and provided a till pay-bill number where the money would be sent,” DCI added.
His cover was blown after detectives infiltrated the group disguised as candidates and wanted to buy the papers.
A manhunt for the suspect immediately followed leading to his arrest in Gikambura village, Kiambu County, where several SIM cards believed to be used in the fraud were also found in his possession.
The Ministry of Education, the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC), and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have put up elaborate mechanisms aimed at upholding the integrity of administering the forthcoming KIPSEA and KCSE examination, to avoid cases of irregularities.
