A Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidate in Bomet County has died on the night before he was due to sit an examination paper. Gideon Kiprop Ngeno, 18, a student at Ngererit Senior School in Konoin Constituency, died on the night of Wednesday 4 November 2026. Family members found him unresponsive in his bed at about 5.50 am.
What the police have said
Konoin Sub-County Police Commander Godana Mohamed confirmed the incident. He said investigators from Konoin Police Station visited the scene and established that the candidate had no injuries on his body. Mr Mohamed also said the candidate had a medical history, and that he was epileptic.
The body has been moved to Kapkatet Sub-County Hospital in neighbouring Kericho County, where it is being preserved. A postmortem examination is awaited, after which the body will be released to the family for burial.
Mr Mohamed said education officials and school administrators were notified because the deceased was a KCSE candidate.
What the family has said
His father, Charles Langat, said the family realised that the candidate had overslept, and went to wake him. He was found unresponsive and was rushed to the nearby Mogogosiek Dispensary, where he was pronounced dead.
Teachers’ union statement
Desmond Langat, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Bomet branch secretary, said it was unfortunate that the student had died before completing his KCSE examinations. In a statement, he said: ‘We share the grief with the family of the deceased student, the school and the community.’
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KCSE candidates in Bomet County
Bomet County Director of Education Leonard Ngugi said the county has 27,827 candidates sitting the 2026 KCSE examination in public and private schools. They are spread across five sub-counties: Bomet East, Bomet Central, Sotik, Chepalungu and Konoin.
Mr Ngugi said three candidates are sitting their papers in hospital in Bomet County. Two of them have given birth, and the third is unwell. One candidate gave birth at Dr Laboso Mother and Child Hospital. Another, from Migori County, has been admitted to the maternity wing of AGC Tenwek Hospital for the last week.