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Gusii Leaders Furious Over Claims of Cheating
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 17 July 2007 00:38
They said that for many years, students from the area had done well in national examinations. Here is a sample of their views.
Simeon Nyachae
A Cabinet minister and the for MP Nyaribari Chache:
"As Kisii leaders we do not condone cheating in exams or any malpractices. Those caught cheating red-handed must be penalised as individuals. But as a community, all we want to see is justice done for our children."
Mwancha Okioma
The MP for Kitutu Masaba:
"Kisiis are known to be ambitious by nature. Those who have excelled in various fields have not cheated their way to those positions as their performances can attest. Anybody with watertight evidence that students from Gusiiland had leaked papers should produce that evidence."
Henry Obwocha
Assistant Minister Finance and MP for West Mugirango:
"The wholesale cancellation of results in Kisii schools left a lot to be desired. Those who went to school are finding it hard to understand how 197 candidates in different rooms would have had ample time to collude in maths undetected."
Omingo Magara
MP for South Mugirango:
"We expected Knec (Kenya National Examination Council) to name students who cheated, the method of cheating, short-list their accomplices and prosecute them even before releasing the results.
We feel targeted when a minister singles out the three Omogusii districts as if cheating was never detected elsewhere. He owes us an apology."
Jimmy Angwenyi
The MP for Kitutu Chache:
"Given that the (education) ministry has not bothered to support its claims that the three Kisii districts deliberately cheated through collusion, we can conclude that the Government and mainly those at Knec have adapted a systematic and sustained victimisation of our people.
"Before going public that there was cheating, Knec should have looked at the affected schools' historical performances, interviewed students individually and then compared their performance at the KCSE against each student's mock results and the schools' continuous assessment tests."
Stephen Manoti
The MP for Bobasi:
"The Knec is biased. I am challenging it to say if all the examination officials, including security officers, were compromised to allow all those students to cheat."
Manson Oyongo
An economist:
"While we are perturbed by the massive cancellations and still await the outcome of the re-marking as promised by (Education minister George) Saitoti, we as community leaders and stakeholders in Education should meet urgently and look afresh at the dwindling of our area's education standards. The examination council's secretary ought to resign for weaknesses in the administration of the examinations."
Prof Sam Ongeri
A former Cabinet minister:
There is need to overhaul the entire examination council. Some officers may be out to prove to their bosses that they are thorough in their work by pointing out cases of cheating even when there isn't sufficient evidence to warrant the massive cancellation of results."
