CS Ogamba: ‘Special courts to seal fate of exam cheats’

Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Migos Ogamba has warned against examination malpractices, stating that any culprits found shall have their fate determined and sealed up in special courts.

A case of that nature, he said, would be finalised in less than three(3) months and suspects convicted and jailed.

Mr Ogamba made the remarks while he was addressing journalists during a tour of Kisii and Nyamira counties on Saturday. 

The CS said the decision to task special courts to hear exam malpractice cases is to end the luxury of suspects buying time and thus dragging their cases ad infinitum thus defeating the cause of justice.

"If you shall be found cheating or found guilty of complicit in facilitating the exam malpractices, you shall not go unpunished. We have requested that the Judiciary sets up special courts to handle your cases," he warned.

He warned that those caught cheating shall be blacklisted from working in the public sector for good.

He however said invigilation shall be scaled up to forestall cheating. 

The CS said he was alive to the pressing human resource challenge affecting the sector, adding that more teachers shall be recruited in “not too distant future to shore up the existing shortage.”

Mr Ogamba further said at least 3,500 classrooms have been done to accommodate the Grade 9 learners when schools reopen in January 2025.

An additional 7,500 classes are in the final stages of construction, he stated.

The Education CS said there should be no cause for alarm, saying by January all the 16,000 classrooms planned for shall be complete.

"We have already contacted the NG-CDF teams to assist in constructing the remainder. So, nothing should worry anybody," he told journalists Saturday during fact-finding assessment visits to several schools in Nyamira and Kisii.

He said the ministry has instructed headteachers to utilise part of the per capitation fund to make desks.

The construction of classes, he said, is standardised adding that schools with huge number of students would do more streams.

Mr Ogamba said already books have been dispatched ahead of the transition January 2028.

"We are set to ensure quality education for our learners and that is why we are putting everything ready. We have retooled the learners to be up to the task," he said.

He dismissed sentiments that the education sector was in shambles.

"There is nothing shambolic here. The infrastructure is ready. We have our act together. We need not play with our young," he said.

He challenged those working in government to be more committed in moving the country forward.

In Kisii, at least 38,634 candidates shall sit for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) while 39,474 will sit for the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA).