A 31-year-old man has been arrested in Embu County for allegedly impersonating a registered candidate in the ongoing 2026 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.

The suspect was arrested at Urban Integrated Senior School, where he had reportedly been sitting the examinations on behalf of another candidate since Monday.

He was escorted to Embu Police Station, where he is being held alongside his motorcycle, which he allegedly used to travel to the examination centre.

Urban Integrated Senior School is hosting 141 private candidates for this year's KCSE examinations.

The whereabouts of the actual registered candidate remain unknown, although preliminary reports indicate that the two men may be acquaintances.

Embu County Director of Education Samuel Mutemi, alongside officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), has taken over investigations to establish how the impersonation was orchestrated and whether other individuals were involved.

Examination impersonation is a criminal offence under the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) regulations and can attract penalties, including fines and imprisonment.

This is the second impersonation arrest of the KCSE season. In Nakuru, 31-year-old Nicholas Koech was charged in court after allegedly sitting papers for a candidate at Rohi Boys High School — he denied the charges and was released on a KSh 100,000 bond, with a pre-trial conference set for 19 November.