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{
    "id": 622551,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/622551/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 461,
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    "content": "by Sen. Obure to look into the plight of the thousands of young children whose future is destroyed because of arbitrary and dictatorial decisions by KNEC. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is the kind of Bill we should have dealt with like yesterday. The justification and the facts just speak for themselves. It is unfortunate, wrong and unconstitutional to condemn someone without giving them an option or a right to fair hearing. Article 50 of our Constitution is very clear that every citizen has got a right to a fair hearing. Article 47 also talks about fair administrative action as a right that has to be enjoyed by all citizens of this nation. It cannot be that with all these provisions in the Constitution, KNEC is given the powers to set exams, monitor exams and to discipline students and teachers without there being recourse to another body. I do recall the late Mutula Kilonzo, when he was moving from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, said that KNEC cannot be allowed to police itself. It should not be allowed to operate as a dictator. That was way back in 2012 and he recommended certain amendments along the same line that Sen. Obure has brought today. Since 2012, that has not been achieved. This is our opportunity to leave a legacy and to change this skewed approach towards dealing with examination malpractices. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Sen. Obure has provided the statistics on the number of children who have been affected by the arbitrariness of KNEC. I want to remind you of what happened in 2011 in North Eastern Province. You do recall in 2011, 1,650 students had their examination results cancelled by KNEC. These are young men who had worked hard from pre-primary all the way to Form Four, only for their results to come back and the grade they had been assigned was “Y”. Grade “Y” is a grade you are assigned when there are questions about the integrity of your effort in an examination. This further drove a region that was already marginalized into deeper trouble. May be, we should not wonder too much why it is that in north eastern and in places like Garissa which was one of the areas that was widely affected, we still have a lot of cases of young men and women who are radicalized, who have gone to school, who are lawyers and those that are quite competent, that they are willing to take up arms, kill and maim other people. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it might be because of this kind of injustice that they are subjected to from an early age. Sometimes KNEC does not look at the prevailing circumstances. One of the residents in north eastern explained something that you will find unimaginable. When you go, for example, in a chemistry laboratory when they are doing practical examinations, because of inadequate facilities in the laboratory, they are forced to share items. Therefore, when you get an invigilator or an examination monitor who comes from a different part of the country where all these things have been provided for since Independence, and he goes to north eastern and finds these people sharing laboratory equipment, they think it is collusion yet these people are trying to make the best use of limited resources. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when KNEC cancels examination results of such people, it is important that they have recourse. They should have another body that they can appeal to. The proposals as laid out in this amendment Bill are very clear; that we set The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}