Azimio leader Raila Odinga has alleged that the tender for printing 2023 KCPE and KCSE exams to a company along Mombasa Road in Nairobi was awarded through corruption.
In a statement on Wednesday, December 6, Raila noted that the Kenya Kwanza government awarded the tender for printing the national exams without following due process.
According to Raila, the government terminated the contract with a UK firm that was printing the exams and awarded the same to a company linked to some officials in the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The UK-Stephen Austin Printing Ltd was awarded tender for printing Kenya’s national exams from 2016 until early 2023 when the tender was terminated.
“We have established that early this year, the Kenya Kwanza administration suddenly and abruptly, stopped this contract just because the UK company refused to give kickbacks.
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“Without following any legal procurement processes, due diligence procedures and attention to examination time lines, the Kenya Kwanza administration awarded the KCPE and KCSE exam printing contract to a politically-correct local company based on Mombasa Road in Nairobi,” Raila noted.
The ODM leader explained that the government was informed that the Nairobi based company did not have the capacity to print the exams.
However, Raila alleged that the government insisted on awarding the tender despite the warning because there were kick-backs involved.
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“The government was advised that the Mombasa Road based company did not have the capacity to print the exams and also ensure its security and integrity, especially on such a short notice.
“Nobody would budge because there were kick-backs involved,” Raila explained.
He added that the Mombasa Road company had to outsource the exam printing services from a company based in India, where the exams were printed in a hurry.
Additionally, the ODM leader noted that the sudden change of printer and having exams printed on short notice caused the mess that was witnessed in 2023 KCPE results.
“The situation was worsened by the fact that in return for kickbacks, the procurement for relaying the results to the public using the short code 40054 was also taken away from original provider and awarded on short notice and corruptly to a company that does not have the capacity to handle the same,” Raila explained.
He added that the rot led to 2023 KCPE candidates getting graded for subjects they never sat for.
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“It saw an entire class score the same grades in science in one school. The system deployed could not produce the Plus and Minus signs. What a shame,” said Raila.
The ODM party leader has also hinted that the mess is likely to find its way into 2023 KCSE exams whose marking is currently underway.
