The Assistant Registrar of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Foday Bassie Turay, has testified before Justice Cosmotina Jarrett in an ongoing case involving alleged examination malpractice during the May/June 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The second prosecution witness, Foday Turay, was led in evidence by State Prosecutor at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Lawyer M. L. Sesay.
Explaining his responsibilities at WAEC, Foday Turay told the court that he is responsible for training examiners, conducting examinations, monitoring the marking of examination scripts, among other duties. He added that he is attached to WAEC’s National Headquarters on A.J. Momoh Street, Tower Hill, Freetown.
The witness identified the defendant, Ibrahim Kamara, as an Assistant Examiner at WAEC. He recalled that on August 19, 2024, during the conference marking exercise for the May/June WASSCE, he was serving as a venue coordinator at the WAEC headquarters.
He explained that, as part of his routine duties, he moved around the marking venue to ensure that WAEC’s rules and regulations were strictly observed.
During one of his routine inspections, he said he observed the defendant writing additional answers on behalf of a candidate. He subsequently questioned Kamara, who immediately apologised, pleaded for forgiveness and claimed that the act was unintentional.
Turay further testified that he reported the incident to his superiors, who collected the red pen and examination script from the defendant before handing him over to the officers in charge.
According to the witness, the defendant told him that the Chief Examiner, Issa Kamara, had instructed him to write answers for a candidate in the Physics 2 examination.
He said Issa Kamara was subsequently approached and admitted to the act, describing it as an error and a mistake.
The matter was later referred to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for further investigation.
Turay also explained that WAEC examiners are required to use red ink when marking examination scripts, while team leaders and chief examiners use green ink.
However, during investigations, it was established that the pen allegedly used by the defendant contained blue ink instead of the prescribed red ink.
During cross-examination by Defence Counsel, Lawyer Omo Lisk, the witness admitted that he did not physically check the colour of the ink in the pen during the conference marking exercise.
He further told the court that the defendant had been assigned to mark Physics 3 scripts, while the script in question, which was for Physics 2, had been assigned to another examiner, Joseph Benjeh, for marking.
The defendant bail continues, while the matter has been adjourned to November 12, 2026, for further hearing.
Issa Kamara was initially charged alongside Ibrahim Kamara. However, when he first appeared before the court, he pleaded guilty to the offence and was subsequently sentenced accordingly.
