Education Committee rejects CA report on exam fraud

By Robert Mutasi

The Kenyan Communications Authority and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation have failed to lobby the National Assembly's Education Committee on ways to stop examination cheating.

During a meeting on Tuesday at the Serena Hotel, Committee Chairman Julius Melly said the authorities did not provide full information about their investigations into national examination errors.

Therefore, Melly, returned the authorities to return with a detailed report on ways to stop the fraud of exams. "Our discussion was not final.

We have actually instructed the Communications Authority to arrive before this committee with more detailed cybersecurity information on hacking especially on Telegram,Signal, Whatsapp and Facebook, " Melly said.

"On DCI as well, the details they gave us were not very strict. In fact, they have given us information that is very old, which is about six months old.

"We will have another meeting and they should turn to specific issues that we have asked them."

CA director-general Ezra Chiloba surprised the committee members after saying they had failed to delete several social media accounts used to perform test fraud.

This is after members worried about why CAK was taking so long to delete accounts related to exam errors. Accounts that he referred to as 'the best service include Telegram, Whatsapp, Facebook and Signals.

In his defense, Chiloba said the authorities faced challenges due to not having a communication center with service providers.

"It's not easy to count. We have no legal authority to remove Telegram and Signal. We should cooperate and work closely with providers "" Chiloba said.

In a private session, Melly said the DCI indicated that they identified and arrested test entrepreneurs but did not state the charges they held against them.

"They didn't throw out what charges they preferred, how many were imprisoned, how many perhaps teachers if any were detained, how many officials who spread this corruption have been arrested and what is the way to advance this issue," Melly said.

"We want to get to know them by the names, identification number and crimes they have committed. You can't just sum up and say college students or exam teachers. You have to be very special.

"We have phone owners. They are registered. They have phone numbers and names. The people who sold these are known. That's why we tell them to come back and give us specific issues.”He said.

He added that the committee is especially careful on the issue of fraud to ensure the issues raised by citizens get answers.

 The chairman said the committee will prepare a detailed report after the meeting, which will deal with the fraud of exams in the country.