KCSE candidate disappears after his phone is confiscated

The siblings of a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidate who went missing prior to the start of the exams are in distress as efforts to locate him have been unsuccessful.

Geoffrey Kipkoech, an orphan, went missing after the management of AIC Moi Boys High School Kaplamai confiscated his mobile phone.

“We don’t know if he is alive or dead since we have not received any communication from him since he disappeared,” said his brother, Vincent Kipkorir.

The school’s principal Mr Samson Cheruiyot confirmed that the phone was seized during a night search at their dormitory on Wednesday last week.

“We were surprised when we woke up in the morning only to learn that the student had sneaked out of the school. We alerted his family,” said Mr Cheruiyot.

The siblings are now calling on security chiefs and education officials to help locate their brother.

They are no longer concerned about the papers he has missed.

“We are concerned about his life more than the examinations. If he is found, he can always sit for next year’s examination because we are willing to support him,” said his sister, Julia Jepkurui.

The county’s director of education Joseph Wamocho said: “We have informed the school’s principal to record a statement with the police as we step up efforts to trace him.”

THREE ARRESTED

Meanwhile, three people have been arrested in West Pokot County for impersonating candidates in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams.

The suspects, one from Pokot Central and two from West Pokot Sub Counties, were arrested on Tuesday while undertaking the exams on behalf of registered candidates.

West Pokot Sub County commissioner Khalif Abdulai said invigilators became suspicious after discovering the suspect’s photos did not match with those of the registered candidates.

“They were promptly arrested and taken to Kapenguria police station…they will soon be arraigned in court,” said Mr Abdulai.

In another incident, two female candidates — one from St Annes Chelopoi Secondary school in Pokot North Sub County and another from Baringo County — were rushed to hospital after developing labour pains whilesiting for the exams.

When the Daily Nation team visited the Baringo County Referral hospital, 27-year-old Chelagat Borus who had just given birth to a bouncing baby was sitting for her Kiswahili exam.

(Additional reporting by Oscar Kakai and Florah Koech)