‘That is Ruto and Gachagua’s exam,’ Raila blasts gov’t over errors in 2023 KCPE results

Opposition leader Raila Odinga on Monday criticised the government over irregularities recorded in the recently released 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results.

The results released by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu on Thursday have seen complaints over the misalignment of some candidates’ Kiswahili marks to Kenyan Sign Language, yet they did not take the latter subject.

There have also been allegations that in a certain school, all candidates scored 75 marks in the science subject.

Odinga labelled the exam scandalous, saying such cases can only occur under the leadership of President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.

“The scandal that has now hit the exams; students in one class get the same score in one subject. There is no bright or weak student. What sort of exam is that? That is Ruto and Gachagua’s exam,” the opposition leader told a rally in Kisumu County during a recruitment drive for his ODM party.

“They themselves told us that Kenya no longer has fools and they should know that they can’t fool Kenyans.”

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) on Saturday addressed concerns of identical marks, saying that it had conducted a deep review and had found no signs of malpractice conducted by the institution.

“Science is a multiple-choice question paper, thus making it possible for the candidates to get identical marks," KNEC CEO Dr David Njengere said in a statement to newsrooms.

As for mark misalignment, the exam body said all results on its portal were accurate and that the errors only affected candidates who tried to access theirs through the 40054 SMS code.