Reports alleging that Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu directed Kenyans aged between 29 and 35 to resit for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) are fake and misleading.
The misleading reports surfaced online on Monday, May 8, indicating that Education CS had ordered Kenyans to retake KCSE exams due to rampant cases of examination malpractice.
However, Kenyans.co.ke established that the reports did not emanate from the Ministry of Education.
One of the Twitter accounts which first shared the misleading information attracted over 9,000 views. It stole the identity of Nation Africa, from the logo to the name.
"Education CS Ezekiel Machogu has today said that Kenyans between 29 and 35 years old are to re-sit KCSE exams due to rampant cheating in the years they sat for the national examinations," one of the misleading posts indicated.
However, Nation Africa flagged the post on Tuesday, May 9, indicating that it was fake and did not originate from the media house. Following a series of complaints, the Twitter account was suspended.
Another social media post alleging that CS Machogu had directed 29 to 35-year-olds to resit their KCSE exams was a Citizen TV parody account. The post attracted over 100 Twitter views.
Machogu Responding to 2022 KCSE Exams Malpractice
While appearing before the National Assembly Education and Research Committee, Machogu dismissed malpractice claims during the 2022 KCSE exams.
He defended schools with impressive results, ensuring integrity was observed during the national exams.
"What our students got was the real grade. The propaganda is unfounded. The examination was credible; integrity was not compromised," Machogu told the committee.
Fake News on University Entry Exams
The misleading reports targeting the Ministry of Education came a week after it debunked reports alleging that students who sat for the 2022 KCSE exams would be compelled to do an entry test before joining the university.
Kennedy Buhere, Head of Communications, in the Ministry of Education, State Department of Early Learning and Basic Education, dismissed the reports as false and misleading.
"False information. This is fake," Buhere insisted.
