A Nairobi court has withdrawn examination malpractice charges that had been brought against former Merishaw School Principal David Gideon Kariuki and the school’s employee, Alex Kataiyo Kasaine.
Milimani Principal Magistrate Daisy Mutai allowed an application by the prosecution to withdraw the case under Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
In her ruling, the magistrate held that the prosecution had met the legal threshold for withdrawal of the charges and allowed the application.
“I will therefore allow the application to have the charges withdrawn under Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code,” Magistrate Mutai ruled.
The application followed a request by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which had sought additional time to review the matter.
When the case came up for mention on May 26, 2026, the prosecution informed the court that the DPP required 30 days to reassess the charges before deciding how to proceed.
Kariuki, a former principal of Alliance Boys High School, and Kasaine, who was serving as the G-MAX Hall operator at Merishaw School, had been accused of unlawfully disclosing confidential KCSE examination material during the administration of the 2025 national examinations.
The prosecution alleged that on November 3, 2025, at Merishaw School in Isinya, Kajiado County, the two, together with others not before the court, disclosed English Paper 1 (101/1) Functional Writing Skills while carrying out duties related to the supervision and administration of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations.
They had also been expected to answer to a separate charge of conspiracy to facilitate examination malpractice by allegedly interfering with the school’s CCTV surveillance system to aid examination irregularities.
With the withdrawal of the charges under Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the prosecution retains the option of reinstating the case should further investigations or review warrant such action.
