Opposition Leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday, December 6, accused the Kenya Kwanza government of contracting an incapable company to manage the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams.
In a press conference in Nairobi, the opposition chief alleged that the government had discontinued a company that had been printing the exams after assuming power.
Instead, he explained, the government awarded the contract to a company based along Mombasa Road in Nairobi in a deal influenced by political ties.
According to Raila, figures in the government resolved to take away the contract from the company after a disagreement over “kickbacks”.
Raila then went on to state that the government was warned against making changes in the KCPE contract.
However, according to him, the Kenya Kwanza administration failed to heed to the advice and went ahead to award the contract to the local company.
“The government was advised that the Mombasa Road based company did not have the capacity to print and ensure its security and integrity especially in such a short notice,” he said in the presser.
Further, Raila alleged that the government also discontinued a communications service provider in the country from the tender of transmitting exam results and hence the confusion sorrounding the results transmitted via SMS.
He then went on to blast Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu for what he called failure to maintain the standards set by his predecessors in the Ministry.
In his prsser, Raila further called for a probe into the exam printing and marking process.
“The buck stops with William Ruto. He knows what transpired in last year’s and this year’s national examinations,” the ODM leader said.
“Education CS Ezekiel Machogu has failed in his role to secure the integrity of our Education system particularly the National Examination. He has failed to uphold the systems set in place by Dr. Fred Matiang’i and Prof. George Magoha hence allowing the integrity to go downstream.”
Inconsistencies in 2023 KCPE
Despite the government’s promise to uphold transparency and credibility in the exams, the KCPE results released in November were marred with compliants over errors from candidates across Kenya.
Some parents and teachers even swore to sue the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to stop the government from proceeding with placement.
However, KNEC and the Ministry of Education have been adamant that the errors were just in the SMS transmissions.
