The Government has stepped up surveillance of online
platforms ahead of next week’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE)
examinations to prevent attempts to compromise the integrity of the tests.
Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo said the
National Command Centre for Examinations Security has been fully activated to
oversee real-time monitoring and response operations across the country.
“The centre allows us to access and assess information in
real time. Where there are gaps, we intervene immediately,” Omollo said.
“Our officers are monitoring various social media platforms
to identify and neutralise individuals seeking to defraud parents, teachers, or
candidates with fake exam leaks.”
The centre, based at the Ministry of Interior, brings
together officers from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of ICT, the Kenya
National Examinations Council (KNEC), and other security agencies.
It operates around the clock to detect and respond swiftly
to any form of malpractice or digital interference.
The Interior PS spoke in Starehe Sub-County, Nairobi, after
overseeing the opening of a container for Kenya Primary School Education
Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) examination
materials.
Omollo warned fraudsters posing as exam insiders that the
government is on high alert and will act decisively against anyone found
engaging in exam-related scams.
“In previous years, there have been challenges of early
exposure. The Command Centre is coordinating all efforts to ensure that anyone
involved is apprehended and prosecuted without delay,” he said.
He assured the public that sufficient security measures have
been deployed to safeguard the credibility of all national exams.
“Our security teams at both national and local levels remain
fully alert in supporting KNEC to protect fairness and public confidence in the
examination process,” he said.
The PS added that the same vigilance being applied to the
ongoing KPSEA and KJSEA assessments would continue as KCSE candidates begin
their papers next week.
He also said the Command Centre is ready to handle any
logistical challenges caused by the ongoing short rains, including coordinating
the delivery of exam papers to hard-to-reach areas to ensure all candidates sit
their tests as planned.
The PS added that contingency plans were in place to airlift
examination materials to hard-to-reach areas if necessary.
Omollo noted that more than 600 containers have been
distributed across sub-counties for the safe storage and dispatch of
examination materials.
The Interior Principal Secretary reaffirmed the Ministry’s
commitment to safeguarding the integrity of the national examination process
through coordinated multi-agency efforts across all sub-counties.
