This archive report was first published on 27 July 2021.
July 27, 2021 - A recent exposé by American broadcaster CBS has shed light on a growing concern in the academic world: Kenyans helping American university students cheat.
The students use websites like 'Essay JedII' to connect with writers in Kenya who they hire to do their schoolwork, from one-off essays to completing entire college degrees.
The writers charge between sh.2000 and sh.5000 for a page of work, taking a 75% cut of the profits and subcontracting some of the work out to other writers, who can earn as little as sh.500 a page.
According to the exposé, the practice amounts to academic cheating, with American authorities and scholars emphasizing the risks to American society.
One interviewee confessed to doing exams and other academic writing work for several years on behalf of an American student, who paid to do his undergraduate degree as well as his master's degree.
"I did his degree and right now I'm doing his master's degree...he has also promised me that I am going to do his Ph.D.," the interviewee revealed.
