By BENJAMIN MUINDI bmuindi@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, September 22 2012 at 23:30
Posted Saturday, September 22 2012 at 23:30
IN SUMMARY
- The agreement would have seen the lowest paid teacher take home Sh16,750 and the highest paid Sh145,270 from next month when the first phase of the deal would have been implemented.
- The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) council of 52 members maintained that the strike would not be called off until the government harmonised their salaries with those of other civil servants in one go.
- The latest offer by the government spread out the Sh13.5 billion payout in three phases – Sh6 billion (to be paid immediately and backdated to July 1), Sh5 billion to be paid in January and Sh2.5 billion to be paid in June next year.
- The teachers argued that the government should have honoured the deal in two tranches at most, but the government side insisted that the public wage bill was already too big and money would not be found.
The teachers union’s National Executive Council (NEC) has rejected an agreement between the government and its top officials to end the 15-day strike that threatens to ruin the third term.
The strike, which enters its fourth week on Monday, also threatens to push forward the starting date for national examinations.
The agreement would have seen the lowest paid teacher take home Sh16,750 and the highest paid Sh145,270 from next month when the first phase of the deal would have been implemented.
In the same agreement, all P2 teachers would have been upgraded to P1 status and their pay increased from Sh13,750 to Sh19,000 at the final implementation of the new perks.
The agreement stated that teachers would also be paid this month’s salary and none would face disciplinary action for participating in the strike, an official privy to the deal but who cannot be named because of the delicate nature of the negotiations told the Sunday Nation.
Teachers would also get hardship and special schools allowances at 30 per cent and 10 per cent of their basic salaries respectively.
But the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) council of 52 members maintained that the strike would not be called off until the government harmonised their salaries with those of other civil servants in one go. (READ: Failure to end teachers’ strike bad news for all)
“An agreement cannot be signed before the Nec approves it,” Knut deputy secretary-general Xavier Nyamu said when asked about Friday’s commitment between top union officials and the government.
Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) officials said that union officials — Mr Wilson Sossion (chairman), Mr Nyamu and Mr Mudzo Nzili (assistant secretary-general) and their lawyer Mr Macharia Kabiru were involved in drafting the agreement that was to be signed on Saturday.
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And, in the hope that the agreement would be ratified by the Nec thereby ending the strike, the top officials invited their secretary-general, Mr David Okuta, to end the work boycott as required by their constitution.
Mr Okuta has been hospitalised since the strike started three weeks ago, although he confirmed to the Sunday Nation on the phone that he had attended the Nec meeting at Knut headquarters in Nairobi.
Mr Okuta left the Knut boardroom immediately the media were invited after a three-hour meeting with the council members. “The Nec has today rejected the deal. The strike is far from over,” Mr Sossion said after the meeting.
“We ask teachers to stay on strike until an acceptable solution is reached no matter how long it takes,” he added.
It is not clear now if the teachers will receive their September salaries, but Mr Sossion said “the teachers do not care if the government freezes their salaries”.
“We also take exception to the threat to sack teachers and employ retired teachers. Retired teachers have not been paid their pension money and will soon join us,” he said.
The latest offer by the government spread out the Sh13.5 billion payout in three phases – Sh6 billion (to be paid immediately and backdated to July 1), Sh5 billion to be paid in January and Sh2.5 billion to be paid in June next year.
The agreement stated that if the economy improved, phases two and three would be paid out at once in January 2013.
Treasury officials led by Director of Budget Onderi Ontweka, chief finance officer Macharia Maina and PS Joseph Kinyua outlined how the teachers would be paid.
Officials who attended the negotiations at the Treasury and TSC building said a number of options on implementing the harmonised deal were presented to the teachers.
A payout in three phases where each phase would carry Sh4.5 billion and another one where the government would pay Sh6.5 billion, Sh4 billion and Sh3.5 billion respectively were explored.
The teachers argued that the government should have honoured the deal in two tranches at most, but the government side insisted that the public wage bill was already too big and money would not be found.
Finance minister Njeru Githae explained that the Kenya Revenue Authority had experienced a shortfall of Sh40 billion so far, making the government cash strapped.
“It will, therefore, be nearly impossible to chop other areas of the budget to fund the teachers’ demands,” he said, adding that the only way to increase revenue was to increase taxes.
“But this cannot be done. Raising taxes for Kenyans, more than the current 30 per cent threshold, is unacceptable. The Cabinet has also overruled the move.”
Mr Githae also noted that financing the teachers’ demands through budget cuts was not feasible as the government instituted austerity measures in non-priority areas.
The minister ruled out borrowing money from donors to pay the striking teachers. “Financing through additional borrowing for consumption type of expenditure is not only in contravention of the law but also not prudent,” said Mr Githae to the teachers.
The Public Finance Management Act (2012) provided that “a minimum of 30 per cent of national and county governments’ budget shall be allocated to development”.
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He pointed out that if the teachers’ demands were to be met, the government would be contravening the law as only 23 per cent of the national budget would go to development.
The rest would be gobbled up by recurrent expenditure, mainly in salaries. Currently, the development component takes up 31 per cent of the national budget.
The strike is set to affect the administration of national examinations scheduled to start on October 4 with Home Science practicals followed by other practical papers.
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