The decision by the Siaya County government to print Governor Cornel Rasanga's portrait on the exam papers was greeted with uproar with Kenyans criticizing the move as politically motivated.
However, in a quick re-battle, the County Executive Committee member for Education from the county Pamela Akello defended the decision saying it had nothing to do with popularizing the governor ahead of the 2017 polls.
According to Akello, the decision was meant to cushion parents from exploitation by school heads who may have wanted to charge their children extra mock exam fee.
She said they had realized that various schools approach different printers to print exam papers hence it was necessary for them to have Rasanga's portrait on the exam papers to differentiate between county papers and others.
Akello was also quick to defend the decision by the county to sponsor mock exams when the Ministry of Education had outlawed such exams.
She said the exams were only meant to gauge the students' level of preparedness which she attributed to the fact that primary and secondary education isn't devolved.
Speaking to Radio Ramogi, Akello said the county cannot use education as a campaign tool.