The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) officials have nabbed 17 mobile phones from students sitting for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams in two separate incidents in Moyale and Saku constituencies, Marsabit County.

Nine students were caught at Sessi Mixed Secondary School in Moyale, while another eight private candidates were nabbed in Saku.

Marsabit Central Assistant County Commissioner David Saruni confirmed the incident, saying investigations have commenced.

According to the police report, during routine checks, KNEC officials on duty noticed that some candidates were in possession of mobile phones and ordered them to surrender.

“After the recovery, the nine candidates were allowed to continue with their Chemistry Paper One exam, code 233/1, at Sessi Mixed,” reads the police report.

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The phones were handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for further investigations, and the matter escalated to the sub-county director of education, Moyale Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), and the Sub-County Criminal Investigations Officer (SCCIO).

A total of 4,126 students are currently sitting for their KCSE exams in Marsabit County across 51 centres.

According to the DCI and KNEC, between last year and August this year, a total of 51 Telegram channels had been identified and linked to an exam cheating syndicate.

Currently, 32 Telegram channels have been taken down, with 19 still pending, though their subscribers have reduced and most remain inactive.

Fraudsters have been targeting unsuspecting students, parents, and school heads, mainly on Telegram and WhatsApp platforms.

This year, a total of 996,078 students are sitting for the three-week KCSE exams, which will end on November 21.