Knec denies exam leak claims

The Kenya National Examinations Council has allayed fears that a leak occasioned delays in the start of Maths and Geography papers on Friday.

Such a series of delays led to some schools in the North Rift and Upper Eastern regions to sit their exam at night, raising fears of an irregularity.

There were concerns that the specific papers had leaked and therefore the council had been forced to run another print to counter the papers already in the public domain.

Knec chief Paul Wasanga said the delay did not have any implication on the exam integrity as his officers were in high alert to prevent conniving between schools.

Said Mr Wasanga: “The information is not correct. It is not possible to print, pack the papers and send them to centres in a day.”

The police also on Sunday ruled out exam leakage when a lorry ferrying materials to Kericho was involved in an accident on the Naivasha–Mai Mahiu highway.

Naivasha police boss Ernest Oponyo said his officers were deployed to the scene to ensure the materials were intact.

A police officer escorting the vehicle and the driver sustained minor injuries as the loader escaped unhurt in the morning incident that caused a heavy traffic snarl up on the road.  

“All the papers were undamaged despite the vehicle having overturned,” Mr Oponyo said. Another lorry was sent from Nairobi and helped to ferry the examination papers to their destined areas.

Mr Wasanga cited bad weather as a challenge facing his team in the dispatch of materials to centres. This follows a series of delays on Friday last week as Form four candidates wrote their Maths and Geography papers.

Mr Wasanga assured that exam officials were under instructions to keep candidates in isolation in case of the delay to avoid conniving.