Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina has demanded the resignation of senior Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) officials over the reported errors in the 2023 KCPE results.
While addressing lawmakers in Parliament on Wednesday, Maina questioned why the Council hastened the marking process instead of pulling out all stops to ensure the integrity of the examinations.
Njeri particularly questioned why the council did not adhere to the initial timeline given by the Ministry of Education, where it was indicated that the results would be released before Christmas.
As such, Maina wants KNEC officials to be held accountable for the anomalies.
"KCPE began last month on the 30th. What was the hurry in marking the examinations and giving the results? This house must demand investigations because we cannot keep debating on these matters again," she stated.
"KNEC must be accountable to the children of this nation and to the Kenyan people. If they cannot, they need to resign with immediate effect."
Further, the Woman Representative demanded KNEC to provide information about the beneficiaries of the Ksh25 charged to every parent and candidate who requested their examination results via SMS. She demanded that the beneficiaries refund the money.
"I zero in in regards to the Ksh25 being charged per parent. This house needs to be told who was given the contract to procure and ensure that they send the SMS to the parents or the students," Maina explained.
"Some of the parents were charged multiple times meaning there were profits declared that were made illegally. In terms of contract of service, if you pay for a service, you expect to receive it."
"We want to know if it was a mobile provider or a third-party agent so that they can be held accountable and refund the public money that they have illegally obtained."
She further warned that how the country deals with the current saga will determine the credibility and integrity of future national examinations.
A section of disgruntled parents had filed a petition seeking to stop the Form One placement exercise, citing massive anomalies in the KCPE results.
The High Court, however, declined to halt the process and pushed the case to February 7, 2024.
