A leading Kitutu Masaba parliamentary aspirant has lauded the National Assembly for advocating for a proposed amendment on Kenya National Examination Council (Knec) over issuance of certificates.
The amendment, which is currently under the committee stage, seeks to give Knec power to issue certificates for candidates to district education officers for collection by candidates.
Previously, certificates were issued to respective schools in which the candidates sat the exams for collection, leading to detention of a number of them if the candidate neither had nor cleared school fee.
Mr Victor Ogeto, who was addressing beneficiaries of his Swanya Ogeto Foundation, said the amendment was welcome and urged the president to assent to it once passed by parliament.
“I have been following the debate and as per the mood of the house, most of them want the amendment go through. It’s now upon the president to prepare to assent to it. Many candidates for years have been having their certificates detained simply because they cannot afford to clear school fee hence shuttering their dreams,” he said.
He also said his amendment will substantially combat impunity from a section of head teachers who wait till issuance of certificates to retaliate on candidates who they had issues with by declining to issue them with their papers.
“There are also many untold stories about the candidates being declined to be given certificates simply because they had differed in opinions with school heads. The revenge will no longer be there because DEOs works for the government,” he added.
He also urged parliament to consider inserting another clause that could see students who had never received their certificates despite DPs William Ruto’s directive last year so that the candidates pick their copies after having been protected by law.