The Gusii Council of Elders is up in arms over what it has termed "blanket cancellation" of examination results of over 20 secondary schools, adversely affecting the results of more than 1,500 students in the process.
In a statement from the group, the chairman of the influential group of Elders, James Matundura lamented over the same, saying some of the schools whose results had been cancelled included national secondary schools Kisii School and Nyabururu Girls High School.
Other schools affected by the cancellation include Nyakoiba High School, which performed exemplarily well in the 2013 KCSE examinations.
In his address to the media during a press conference he had convened to express the community's displeasure with the turn of events, he sought to distance the council of elders from the controversial issue of examination cheating, saying it did not condone cheating in any form, and that the address to the media was not an attempt to cover up the issue in cases where it existed.
He however categorically stated that there had been blanket cancellation of students' results, affecting the results of innocent students whose diligent four year study efforts had been rendered useless by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC)’s decision.
“We condemn in the strongest possible language this sad affair which should be of serious concern to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the government in general and Kenyans of good will,” said Matundura.
Complaining as he spoke to the press, the elder pointed out that no cases of cheating had been reported in the county during the examination period.
“Is it a coincidence that the top performing schools like Kisii School, Nyakoiba and Nyabururu are the ones which have been targeted in the exercise to report irregularities?”
He added that the move had paralyzed the future plans of young innocent Kenyans who were the victims of unfair penalties that had targeted schools as opposed to individuals.