A 23-year-old teacher from a school in Kiambu County, was arrested for alleging to be in possession of the forthcoming 2023 national examination papers for both primary and secondary school.
The suspect Nicholas Ngumbau Kalewa alias ‘Mr Examiner’ who teaches Christian Religion Education at St Lilian Academy in Gikambura village, was arrested following meticulous investigations by detectives attached to the Kenya National Examinations Council.
Mr Examiner, had opened over 10 WhatsApp and Telegram accounts where he was hawking the fake examination papers at a partly Sh1,500 per paper and Sh2,000 for a complete examination paper with its marking scheme.
In the typical conman’s language, he cautioned the over 900 parents and students in the group not to introduce other matters, as he was busy attending to those who were willing to buy.
“Avoid many stories in my inbox I have many clients,” said the religious education teacher in one of his curt responses seen by detectives.
He further cautioned the group members to be very cautious of scammers, since he was the only one with legit papers.
The suspect who had used a stolen identity card to register the SIM cards that he was using had also opened a bank account and provided a till pay-bill number where the money would be sent.
According to investigators, the suspect’s plans were however nipped in the bud when detectives infiltrated the groups posing as students who had not done their revision and wanted to reap where they had not sown.
A manhunt for the suspect immediately followed leading to his arrest in Gikambura village, Kiambu County, where several SIM cards believed to be used in the fraud were also found in his possession.
The Ministry of Education, the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have put up elaborate mechanisms aimed at upholding the integrity of administering the forthcoming KIPSEA and KCSE examination, to avoid cases of irregularities.
The exams start next week.