By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed an indictment for three people who were recently caught for examination malpractice. Mannah Lahai, Mohamed Kamara and Edward Lamboi have all been charged with multiple counts, ranging from Conspiracy to Commit a corruption offence to Obstruction of Justice.
On September 7th, the three men were arrested in a raid that was conducted by the ACC at the Fatibu Technical Secondary School, Freetown. They caught whiles helping pupils to engage in examination malpractice in the ongoing West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The following Monday, the three men were paraded in public, an act that provoked a widespread debate about how far the anti-graft body should go in its fight against graft.
A preliminary investigation by ACC suggest that one of the men, Kamara, was co-opted to participate in the scheme, according to the Commission.
“Following the arrests, investigations revealed that Messrs. Mannah Lahai and Edward Lamboi were both Supervisors and Facilitators, respectively for WAEC, for the 2019 Mathematics Private WASSCE examination at the Fatibu Technical Junior and Secondary School – a centre designated for the examination; and that Mr. Mohamed Kamara was co-opted by Mr. Lahai in coordinating assistance to be given to certain candidates at the aforementioned centre. Mr. Kamara received money on behalf of Mr. Lahai so as to make available to the cooperating candidates answers to the exam which were later copied for distribution to those candidates who had paid for assistance with the aim of passing the exam through various acts of malpractices,” a statement from the commission, issued on Monday, reads.
Mannah Lahai is the Principal of Fatibu Technical Junior Secondary School and a supervisor for the examination body, WAEC. Mohamed Kamara is a teacher at the school, whiles Edward Lamboi is a facilitator for WAEC. All three men are expected to appear in the High Court on Wednesday.
The ACC is expected to bring indictments against six more people who were arrested the following weekend, whiles writing Economics exam in a private home at Deep Eye Water, in the outskirts of Freetown.
The Public Relations Officer of the ACC, Margaret Murray, told Politico that their investigation is still in progress. Murray said: “That indictment is not yet ready. Investigation is still ongoing.”
ACC’s appetite to crackdown on examination malpractice took a new turn when they decided to collaborate with school authorities and WAEC to monitor the exams over the weekend. All this comes in the wake of serious concerns about the possible erosion of the country’s educational system by brazen acts of examination malpractice.
© 2019 Politico Online
