Lukenya Assistant County Commissioner (ACC) Elizabeth Karitu has been arrested for allegedly losing keys for an examination container padlock.
This comes a few days to the start of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.
Standard Digital reports that the incident happened on Saturday in a parking at Avenue Hospital in Nairobi when thieves broke into the ACC's car and vanished with a number of valuables.
The officer in question is being held at Parklands Police Station in Nairobi for further questioning.
The incident comes after Machakos county was recently listed by a Kenya National Exams Council (KNEC) as an examination cheating hot spot in this year's exams.
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has also supported KNEC by dismissing teachers involved in cheating after a free and fair hearing.
Despite the risk of the exams leaking, Machakos County Commissioner Esther Maina has said everything is under control at the affected container.
She said KNEC was notified and made necessary security arrangements to secure the exams.
“There is no cause for alarm. Everything is under control. We have heightened security at the container as we await Knec to have the padlock replaced,” Ms Maina told Standard Digital on Sunday.