Kisii Governor James Ongwae has asked the Government to amend the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) Act to allow for the establishment of an independent tribunal to handle complaints arising from national examinations marking, to assure the affected students of their justice.
Ongwae observed that under the rule of natural justice, it could be unfair for KNEC to set, supervise, mark examinations and hear complaints arising from the results of the examinations.
Speaking on Thursday at St.Paul's High School-Amasago in Keumbu Ward during the school's education day, Ongwae said KNEC as a national examiner cannot be the prosecutor and the judge at the same time in hearing and determining the complaints from candidates whose examination results have either been withheld or cancelled by the Council.
“Based on previous cases of examination complaints, it is prudent to have an independent tribunal to hear and determine examination complaints, instead of having KNEC which either cancels or withholds examination results hearing and determining a case against itself,” stated Ongwae
The governor decried past incidents where schools from Kisii County had their results cancelled or withheld by KNEC over unsubstantiated examination irregularities, challenging KNEC to investigate cases of irregularities in time before releasing results, as it leads to anxiety among parents and candidates who wait for long to receive the results.