Legislators Cast Exam Cheating Blame on the DCI and Communications Authority of Kenya
The Communication Authority of Kenya and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation have failed to convince the National Assembly Education Committee of ways how to curb examination cheating.
During a meeting held on Tuesday at Serena Hotel, Chair of the committee Julius Melly said the Authorities did not provide conclusive information on their investigations towards national examination malpractices.
Melly, therefore, sent back the authorities to come back with a detailed report on ways to curb examination cheating.
“Our discussions were not conclusive. We have actually directed the Communications Authority to come before this committee with more detailed information on cyber security information on cheating especially on Telegram, Signal, Whatsapp and Facebook,” Melly said.
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“On the DCI similarly, the information they gave us was not very conclusive. In fact, they have actually given us information that is very stale, which is about six months old.
“We are going to have another meeting and they should specifically come back with very clear specific issues that we have asked them.”
CA Director General Ezra Chiloba shocked the committee members after he said that they have been unable to take down several social media accounts used in exam cheating.
This is after members were concerned about why CAK was taking too long to pull down accounts related to exam malpractices.
The accounts which he termed as ‘over the top services include Telegram, Whatsapp, Facebook and Signals.
In his defence, Chiloba said the Authority is facing challenges since they don’t have a centralized contact point with the service providers.
“It is not easy to take down the accounts. We don’t have the legal powers to take down Telegram and Signal. We have to collaborate and work closely with the service providers,” Chiloba said.
In a closed-door meeting, Melly said the DCI indicated that they identified and arrested the exam peddlers but they did not outline the charges they held against them.
“They didn’t give us what charges were preferred on them, how many have been jailed, how many probably teachers if any were interdicted, how many officers propagated this malpractice have been arrested and what is the way forward on this particular issue,” Melly said.
“We want to know them by name, ID number and the crime they have committed. You can’t just generalize and say exam university students or teachers. You must be very specific.
“We have owners of phones. They are registered. They have phone numbers and names. The people who peddled these are known. That is why we are telling them to go back and come give us specific issues.”
He added that the committee is very serious especially on the issue of cheating to ensure the issues raised by the public get answers.
The chair said the committee will draft a detailed report after the meeting, that will address exam cheating in the country.
“After this particular meeting, we shall restrict as a committee and drive a detailed report on how to make sure exam cheating is brought to an end in this country,” Melly said.
