Raila: 2023 KCPE results mess due to government tender wars

Opposition leader Raila Odinga in a previous address. [File, Standard]

Opposition leader Raila Odinga now alleges there was interference in the printing of national examinations following complaints by parents and candidates on the outcome of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).

In a press briefing on Wednesday, December 6, Odinga claimed the Kenya Kwanza administration awarded the exam printing tender to a local company because the UK-based company declined to give kickbacks.

"The circumstances under which the printing of the exams was transferred from the UK to Mombasa Road must be investigated. It is the right of Kenyans to know the termination of the contract with the UK firm," claimed Odinga.

Odinga now wants the government to explain why the printing process was transferred from the United Kingdom to a company he claims is located on Mombasa Road, Nairobi.

"Kenyans must be informed of how the Mombasa Road firm was identified and awarded the tender and if procurement laws were followed."

He further claimed that corruption in the Ministry of Education is hindering the future of young children in the country.

"Some children are in court seeking to establish their true grades while the Education Ministry is admitting students to Form One including those who are still challenging the marks they were awarded. This impunity of corruption that is messing the future of our young children, is sanctioned from the highest offices in the land," said Odinga.

In his Wednesday expose, the Azimio chief also claimed that the numerous complaints witnessed over the past weeks as regard the 2023 KCPE results culminated form government tender wars.

"We can disclose that the mess in KCPE started as a tender war, pitting various senior officials in the Ministry of Education against each other before eventually being taken over by an official much higher up in government," he said.

Some parents and candidates have lodged complaints over discrepancies in the 2023 KCPE results faulting the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) for the irregularities.

"Grades in science, social studies, and religious studies were truncated. The rollout saw KCPE candidates get graded in subjects they never sat for. The system deployed could not produce the plus and minus signs; what a shame!" said Odinga.