Man who posed as KNEC examiner and assessed candidates charged

A man who masqueraded as a trained teacher and an employee of the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) assessed Grade Four and Standard Eight candidates in schools in Uasin Gishu county for about one week without being discovered as an impostor, an Eldoret court heard on Monday.

Ignatius Nyongesa was consequently charged with impersonation.

Headteachers from the affected schools unmasked the ‘teacher’, who claimed to be a teacher at Moi Girls High School in Eldoret.

Sorngetuny Primary School headteacher William Chebor told Eldoret Principal Magistrate Onkoba Mogire that the accused had all identification documents, including one from KNEC. 

He posed as an examination officer and supervised practical exams at Mr Chebor’s school. 

He was testifying against Mr Nyongesa.

The accused also assessed Standard Eight candidates at Ruiyobei Primary School in Tembelio, Moiben sub-county, among other schools in Uasin Gishu.

“We became suspicious about the behaviour of the teacher, who used to commute from one school to another and was not using a government vehicle as expected of senior employees of KNEC,” a witness told the court.

Headteachers' suspicion

The suspicious headteachers followed their instincts and contacted the county education board chairperson, Prof Joseph Lelan, who eventually contacted the Moi Girls High School principal at the time, Christine Chumba, who denied that the man was a teacher at her school.

The motive of the accused was not immediately established.

Upon establishing that he was a fake KNEC officer, headteachers from the affected schools alerted police at the Tembelio station, who arrested the suspect. 

He was charged with impersonating a KNEC officer, contrary to Section 105 of Criminal Penal Code. 

He denied the charges and was released on a Sh100,000 bond with a surety of the same amount. 

Hearing of the case will continue on December 7.

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