4 Imprisoned for exam malpractice, others fined

The Kintampo Circuit Court has sentenced four persons to 30 days each in prison for engaging in exam malpractice in the just-ended Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) at Kintampo in the Bono East Region.

They were also made to sign a bond of good behaviour for two years.

Two others, who pleaded not guilty, have been remanded and scheduled to reappear on July 2, 2025.

One other person was fined while another was granted bail.

The court was presided by  Amoah Kamkam Lily.

Offences

The four convicts are Diana Tii, a teacher at Krabonso D/A School, and one Sylvester, also a teacher, and an accomplice of Diana

The rest are Boi Edmond Merratro, a teacher, Just Love International School, and Samuel Waabero, an administrator of the same school.

Diana, who pleaded guilty with explanation, was caught distributing photocopied materials to candidates in the examination hall.

She pleaded guilty with explanation and was sentenced to 30 days in imprisonment, and placed on a two-year bond for good behaviour.

His accomplice, Sylvester, who also pleaded guilty with explanation and was sentenced to 30 days in prison and placed on a two-year bond for good behaviour, assisted her in smuggling photocopies into the examination hall.

Others

Others are Master Paul Busi, a Student of Kintampo College of Health, who was caught computing examination questions on his phone.

He pleaded guilty with remorse and was fined 100 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢1,200.

For his part, Boi Edmond Merratro was caught solving computing questions in the school’s dining hall.

He pleaded guilty with explanation and was sentenced to 30 days in imprisonment with hard labour.

Mr Waabero was also seen answering questions in the school’s dining hall.

He pleaded guilty with explanation and was sentenced to 30 days in imprisonment with hard labour.

Ms Adjeiwaa, a fashion designer from Techiman, was caught with photocopied answers in Computing Paper Two.

She pleaded not guilty and was remanded into police custody to reappear on July 2, 2025, while Haruna Mohammed, a teacher of Kintampo SHS, was caught with a phone containing Social Studies questions during the examination.

He pleaded not guilty and was remanded in police custody to reappear on July 2, 2025.

For his part, Sadique Abubakar, also a teacher at Kintampo SHS, was caught in the exams hall with answers to the objective test in Computing Paper One. He pleaded guilty with explanation and was granted a court bail of GH¢10,000 with two sureties.

He is to reappear on July 2, 2025.

Confirmation

The Head of Public Affairs of West African Examinations Council (WAEC), John Kapi, who confirmed the prosecution of the eight, said four were teachers who were all invigilators, while one was an administrator in a private school.

He said there were ongoing investigations at other centres across the country, and “we are trying to reach out to our friends in the police service to impress upon their investigators to prosecute the cases as early as possible”.

So far, Mr Kapi said the council was pleased with the development, adding that it would serve as a deterrent to others going forward.

Aside from the prosecutions, he said the Ghana Education Service could also go ahead and take action against the convicts based on its code of conduct.

“We would also compile the list and hand it over to the GES for action,” Mr Kapi  said.