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The Kenyan National Examinations Council (KNEC) has drafted a new law to criminalise cheating on national examinations, after allegations of mass cheating resulted in the cancellation of nearly 3,000 students' exam results this year.

KNEC Chief Executive Officer Paul Wasanga said Minister of Education Mutula Kilonzo introduced the bill to parliament in April, and lawmakers are expected to discuss any proposed amendments and vote on the legislation this year.

"Until now, the government has never prosecuted anyone for cheating on national examinations. The practice has been increasing for the past five years, so we are coming up with deterrent measures," Wasanga told Sabahi.

Kenyan students are required to take the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam at the end of their fourth year in secondary school to receive their graduation certificates, without which students cannot apply for jobs or pursue education at universities.

Under the proposed law, cheaters would be barred from taking the exam for up to three years. They and their accomplices would risk a maximum 10-year jail sentence and a fine of 2 million shillings ($24,000), Wasanga said.

Persons who leak the exam or disclose contents of the examination paper and material would face up to five years in jail and a fine of up to 1 million shillings ($12,000). Anyone who is found before or during the examination with any portion of the exam, would be prosecuted.

In addition, test takers who register under false names, and those who allow other students to take the test in their place could be liable to imprisonment for up to two years and a fine of 1 million shillings.

"We hope the proposed law will be passed with urgency this year to rein in cheaters and their accomplices," Wasanga said.

In February, the KNEC cancelled the exam results of 2,927 students because of irregularities and alleged mass cheating. According to the council, 1,694 of the irregular tests came from the North Eastern Province.

Collusion between students, teachers and others who enabled the cheating and smuggled materials into the examination rooms were at the root of the problem, Wasanga said. He said the irregularities were noted during the exam by test administrators.

Students whose exams have been cancelled will not be able to move on until their grades are honestly acquired, he said.

Mohamed Bunow Korane, a researcher at the Jihan Foundation, which sponsors girls' education in Garissa, said more needs to be done to ensure the province does not again face mass cancellation of exam results, including providing more supplies for schools.

He said inadequate facilities in most schools in the region cause students to share laboratory equipment, even during national examinations.

"The science exams are usually conducted in school laboratories and exam supervisors witness students sharing equipment in the laboratories and conclude it is a premeditated scheme to help students cheat," Korane told Sabahi.

The cancellation of the exams sparked demonstrations and community hearings in the region.

Students are now awaiting the results of a pending investigation on the cancelled national exams by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education. Committee Chairman David Koech told Sabahi that the committee is still compiling the report and will review the findings and recommendations in parliament soon.

The investigation was ordered after elected leaders who represent the province, led by Dujis Parliamentarian Aden Bare Duale, protested the cancellation and tabled a motion in parliament seeking a forensic audit of the examination. Speaker Kenneth Marende ordered the investigation in April.

Mohammed Affey, the Orange Democratic Movement party nominee for one of 12 parliamentary seats to be filled by party appointment, told Sabahi that cheating can happen, but raised concerns over the accuracy of the KNEC findings.

Similarly, students, teachers and parents said they were shocked that the region recorded the highest number of irregularities in the country last year, and raised questions over the KNEC report findings in a hearing with committee members in Garissa on April 13th.

Hussein Abdi Muhumed, a 17-year-old student from Garissa whose exam result was cancelled, said the event affected him deeply. The cancellation of his test scores, he said, means he cannot progress to college or university or seek a job.

"After my results were cancelled, I felt crushed," he told the committee members at the hearing at Boys Town Secondary School Hall.

Parent Adan Ibrahim Ahmed told the committee that the region had not performed well in exams for more than 40 years, and urged officials to re-grade the cancelled exams.