42 students from Dibuoro Secondary School in Alego Usonga, Siaya County were arrested after police raided the school and found them in possession of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam papers.
According to a report by the police, the cops confiscated four phones from a group of 22 students after they concluded the Chemistry practicals on Friday, March 18.
Alego Usonga Subcounty Police Commander Benedict Mwangangi confirmed the arrests, revealing that upon questioning the 22 students, they discovered the existence of a WhatsApp group where the students shared the papers.
They scrutinised the phones and further discovered that there were other 20 students from the school who belonged to the group.
“We had cornered some 22 whom we established were notorious and detailed reports made us trace other 20 students who were equally members of the WhatsApp group,” he stated.
Additionally, it was discovered that the students had access to a Kiswahili paper that was done by candidates on Thursday, March 17.
The police added that they would continue with their investigations to unravel the main culprit behind the leaked exam papers.
During the raid, the principal, the chemistry teacher, and five invigilators were also taken in for questioning.
The students were held at the Siaya Police Station as officials from the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) joined the police in investigating the matter.
Earlier, Educational CS George Magoha cautioned parents and teachers against purchasing fake exam papers that were being circulated on various social media platforms.
At the time, the CS stated that the government was keenly monitoring Telegram which he stated was being used by a syndicate to leak the exams at an undisclosed fee.
However, he insisted that the integrity of the exams was still intact adding that the papers in circulations were fake.
“There is no way there could be answers on the mobile phones. Very few teachers are accessing exams early before exam time and the test has not leaked.
“I want to warn any teacher who feels brave enough to open the exam papers before time. We shall come for you,” the CS warned.
