Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu yesterday staunchly denied any allegations of impropriety surrounding the termination of a UK firm’s contract for printing exam materials in favor of a local company.
Appearing before National Dialogue Committee on Education, Machogu emphasized the ministry’s annual rotation of printing tenders and assured that due procedures were followed.
Azimio-One Kenya Coalition leader Raila Odinga had voiced the concern, prompting calls for a multi-agency task force to investigate corruption claims.
The Education Committee, chaired by Tinderet legislator Julius Melly, addressing numerous complaints about irregularities in the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), summoned Machogu to clarify the situation.
During a committee session, questions arised from members of parliament who are aggrieved by the conduct about the integrity of the examination process.
KNEC CEO Dr. David Njengere acknowledged receiving 1043 complaints, and resolving over 700 so far.
MPs expressed concerns about erroneous SMS charges for results and demand a free platform for result dissemination.
Amidst scrutiny, Machogu defended the exam results, attributing anomalies to the SMS platform while asserting the integrity of the overall grading system.
The committee explored expanding the audit scope, including unregistered candidates and performance history.
According to CS, the ministry planned a meeting with the ICT counterpart to investigate discrepancies in SMS result uploaded and discuss a potential partnership for a ministry-run results transmission system.