A candidate died yesterday after sitting a paper in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations. Kith Mong’are, 17, had just finished the Mathematics Paper One at Gesiaga Mixed Secondary School in West Mugirango Constituency in Nyamira when he collapsed. He was taken to Nyamira Maternity and Nursing Home where was pronounced dead on arrival. His father Joshua Mong’are, who had accompanied his son to school, said Kith had a heart disease and was being treated at Mater Hospital in Nairobi.
“I was hanging around the school compound waiting for him to complete the day’s papers when I heard other candidates wailing and crying after he collapsed,” Mr Mong’are tearfully narrated. Earlier, Basic Education PS Belio Kipsang’ had led senior Government officials in opening an examination container for Kisii Central.
In Mombasa, Education CS Amina Mohamed received examination materials at the provincial headquarters and oversaw the start of the exercise at Mama Ngina Girls, Aga Khan High and Shimo la Tewa Secondary schools. Dr Amina said her ministry had put in place strict measures to ensure the integrity of the test papers was upheld.
In Tana River, security was tight with regular police, prison warders and National Youth Service officers manning 27 examination centers from Mbalambala to Kipini in Tana Delta. In western Kenya, Kenya National Examinations Council chairman George Magoha reiterated the ban on ferrying of examination materials in private vehicles. He spoke at St Mathias Busia Secondary, where he oversaw the start of the examinations. In Rift Valley, Education Director Mary Gaturu said seven of 35,801 candidates did the examination in different hospitals in Nakuru, while in Baringo, four candidates wrote the same papers at Kabarnet Hospital. Two were girls who gave birth on Sunday.
There was a similar case in Trans-Nzoia, where Muli Mutisya, an administrator, said a student from St Anthony Kinyoro was writing the examination at Bondeni dispensary after she delivered on Sunday night. In Kuresoi, a student from Nessuit Secondary will write his examination at Naivasha Maximum Prison where he is serving a six-month sentence. He joined 13 other inmates serving life sentences in sitting the papers, with one prisoner, Patrick Wafula, saying they had been taught well. Elsewhere in Wajir, Idle Abdi, the principal of Habaswein Mixed Secondary School, was yesterday charged with raping a candidate. He appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Amos Makoros at Wajir Law Courts, where he denied the charge and was freed on a Sh300,000 bond.