Teacher denies cheating allegation

Musingu Boys High School sign board. [File, Standard]

A former principal of Musingu Boys’ High School has told the court that he was not shown books claimed to have been recovered from an examination room.

Elphas Luvaso was testifying in a case where Hillary Kisunya, an invigilator, is charged with aiding students to cheat in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination on November 6, 2017.

He told court that during his five-year tenure, as the school head, they never recorded any case of exam irregularity.

Luvaso, who is currently a teacher at Karanyaga Boys Secondary School, narrated how three people went to his school and introduced themselves as officials from the Kenya National Examination Council.

He was informed that there were allegations that two of his students had been suspected of using books in the examination.

“I was not shown the alleged students. Up to this moment, I don’t know if the allegations were true,” he added.

He said all students who sat the 2017 KCSE examination received their results.

According to him, the school had tight security during the exam period.

Resident Magistrate William Lopokoiyot adjourned the hearing to November 20.

 “Sugarcane prices must be reviewed based on market forces and since the price of sugar has hit the roof, we wish to see farmers offered better prices for the raw material,” said the federation's deputy secretary general, Simon Wesechere.

In Busia, Governor Sospeter Ojaamong has vowed to ensure that Busia sugar factory is given a clean bill of health to start crushing cane as a remedy to the challenges facing farmers.

Mumias Sugar Company has suffered yet another setback after electricity supply to the factory was cut because of a Sh1.2 billion bill.

With an installed crushing capacity of at least 8,000 tonnes of cane a day, Mumias was once a leading sugar producer until the firm plunged into financial difficulties.