If a student in London or New York goes online to pay somebody to do their essay, the chances are the work will actually end up being done by somebody

The Kenyans who are helping the world to cheat

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2021-09-09 12:00:09

If a student in London or New York goes online to pay somebody to do their essay, the chances are the work will actually end up being done by somebody in Kenya. BBC Trending reports from Nairobi on the ghost writers helping foreigners to cheat.

Kennedy used to work as a teacher but for the past five years he's made his living in a very different way. "I do academic writing," he says.

He's part of a truly global online industry, which is booming in Kenya. But what Kennedy and many other Kenyans call "academic writing", the rest of the world calls cheating.

If you're a student or a school pupil who is struggling with an assignment, or you just can't be bothered, then Kennedy and his team of writers will do it for you - for the right fee.

The middle men in the transaction run so-called "essay mill" websites, on which cheating students post jobs they want doing. The profile pictures of writers for hire on these sites are a sea of white faces. They give the impression the piece will be written by an academic in the West.