Drivers, security officers decry non-payment months after ferrying national exams

Months after playing a crucial role in the administration of last year’s national examinations, drivers and security officers manning exam containers in Kisii are yet to be paid—a situation that has left many of them in agony and desperation.

The affected teams, who facilitated the safe storage and transport of exam papers from October to December 2024, say their concerns have been ignored even as another exam season draws near.

It has been eight long months since these men and women answered the call to serve, ensuring secure handling and timely delivery of national examination materials to various schools.

For many, this wasn’t their first time. They’ve been part of this national duty for years, often waking up before dawn and returning home after dusk.

But this time, what was meant to offer them financial relief through some extra work has only brought misery, uncertainty, and silence.

They say since the start of KPSEA in October to the final KCSE paper in December last year, not a single shilling has hit their accounts, even as preparations for the next round of national exams begin.

In Kisii Town, I meet a group of drivers exhausted, frustrated, and broken. Their voices tremble as they speak of the pain they’ve endured—unpaid, unheard, and unseen.

"Inasikitisha kwamba sisi kama madereva tulifanya kazi kwa bidii pamoja na wengine ambao walilipwa kitambo. Sisi bado tunasubiri. Hatujalipwa hadi leo. Tunateswa kimya kimya,” the driver.

Driver 2 added: "Tunaamka saa kumi na moja asubuhi, wengine tunatumia piki piki hadi kufika mahali magari yetu yako. Miezi nane sasa, bila malipo. Na hakuna wa kutusikiliza. Inauma sana."

They say after submitting their bank details, nothing has been communicated—no explanation, no timeline, no response.

The frustration cuts across, including members of the security team who escorted exams across various regions in the county.

Even officers assigned to drive senior government officials during the monitoring exercises say they have been forgotten.

"Serikali imetusahau. Tulitumika, tulivumilia hali ngumu—na leo hii, hakuna hata habari za malipo. Tunajihisi kama hatuna thamani,” Police driver.