The current ‘pouring’ of 2015 KCSE exams
(it’s no longer a leakage), has reminded me of a hilarious incident just a few
days to our KCSE back then. This is one of world untold stories of our 404 N
class. He he he Read on!
The
atmosphere was full of mixed emotions; feelings of anxiety and joy. The event
in the coming week would be a defining moment for the all young lads donning
not so white shirts, faded navy blue blazers and grey trousers with white
patches around the sitting apparatus, a sign of four years of hard work. That in a few days, determination of our
destiny will be entirely in our hands. We could either successfully shape our
future or slip up but we were not leaving anything to chance. Nevertheless, we
were joyous for being on the last stage of completing 12 years of study. A long
trying journey full of ups and downs.
It was
just a few days to the KCSE national exams. All form fours (flag bearers as the
principal used to refer to us) we were outside the classrooms scrubbing our
desks to be void of any writings, scouring hard the seat and the desk where we
will be sitting for next 3 weeks shaping our future; hopefully a clean future
like the surface our desks. A dark cloud was hanging above our heads but the
mood was just fine: guys were happy, engaging in sentimental moments, the mono
days he he he.
In
amidst of the cleaning frenzy somebody walked up to me; a form one student
bearing a message. Talking in low tones, he told me that somebody standing
outside the school fence wants to talk to any form four. I don’t know why he came to me specifically.
So I left to meet this stranger who had something important that he could only
share with a KSCE candidate. At the back of my head I knew what it was but I
could not understand where this stranger got the contraband as the exams hadn’t
started. However, I couldn’t also rule it out because we knew that the so
called ‘big’ schools had this thing way before the rest of us in decimal
schools could even begin exams.
Reaching
the school fence, there were two suspicious looking boys standing across the
fence. The boys were donning uniform of Agoro Sare High School for those who
come from that part of Kenya, you must know it well. They were bearing good
news or not as it later turned out. They told me that they had ‘moo’, a Luo
epithet for exam leakage. The English translation for ‘moo’ is ‘oil’. It’s
referred as so because it makes things smooth especially tough exam papers. Ha
ha ha!
But I
digress…
On
sale at this point was English paper one and Chemistry paper I with the rest
coming later once we raise enough cash. It was somewhat a relief for me when it
came to Chemistry as I hadn’t polished up my knowledge on Organic Chemistry
just in case it was there. This was a special offer and the vendors agreed to
offer the two at an introduction offer of Ksh.1500. Even if I wanted to take it
for myself, my pocket money was barely exceeding Ksh.500, I couldn’t afford the
package. So I told them to hold up. I went to my classmates to tell them the
‘good news’.
Upon
sharing the good news, I could see the sigh of relief on comrades’ faces. There
was so much excitement all around but we kept it in the low, careful not to
attract unnecessary attention. Quickly we raised Ksh.1500. I was amazed at how
fast the funds were availed. I went back and took the ‘product’. I came back
and we immediately started looking for answers. We began with the Chemistry paper.
You how tough Chemistry can be especially paper one. Shiet!
As
revision progressed, we stumbled upon one tough question. It was beyond the
class champ so we had to seek help from the overall chemistry champ who was
from another class. Imagine my shock when this genius told me he had
encountered the question before and he vividly recognized the paper as Nandi
South District Mock. Ha ha ha! The other
paper, English paper I, was uncovered to be Kericho District Mock. We were
conned man! Actually, this was my first con experience. We felt so stupid but
you couldn’t blame us we were looking after our own skin, won’t you?
In
retrospect with view of the current ‘pouring’ of 2015 KCSE exams (it’s no
longer a leakage), you can’t really blame the students. Everyone wants a better
future and KCSE seems to be a major contributor to that future. Even so, those
in charge of exam administration should work to seal all the loop holes and
have a fair playing field.
