Three-day ultimatum over teachers’ strike

By Vitalis Kimutai

Nairobi, Kenya: The government moved swiftly Monday to temporarily avert a teachers’ strikethat could have paralysed learning in all public schools and middle level colleges across the country.

President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto directed the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury Henry Rotich, Labour Secretary Kazungu Kambi and Education Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi to resolve the matter within the next three days.

Ruto Monday held a meeting at his offi ces with Kaimenyi, Education Permanent Secretaries Crispin Kiamba and George Godia, offi cials from Treasury and TSC Chief Executive Offi cer Gabriel Lengoiboni to discuss the looming crisis.

Two rival unions – the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet)  — have convened meetings to review strike options after the government ignored pleas for allocations to pay teachers increased salaries and allowances in the 2013/2014 budget.

There was confusion on Monday however when officials of Kuppet insisted that the strike among their members would begin today even as its National Governing Council (NGC) sits in Nairobi to deliberate on the government’s intervention and issue the way forward for the teachers.

“The strike is on and we are advising our members to keep off their work station until the issues are resolved substantively or another directive is given by NGC,” Kuppet Deputy Secretary General Moses Nthurima announced.

But Knut Secretary General Xaviers Nyamu told a press conference that the union had not sanctioned the strike and was awaiting its NEC officials to deliberate on the matter.

Knut represents over 200,000 public school teachers while Kuppet has a membership of just over 40,000.

Sources at Knut said the union was keeping the day and time of the NEC meeting secret as a secret weapon but it will most probably be held in a week’s time.

“We do not have a strike on tomorrow (today) but we have called NEC to discuss the issues relating to full implementation of Legal Notice number 534 of 1997.A communication will be issued to our members after the meeting,” Nyamu said.

Held liable

As a result of the directive from Kenyatta and Ruto Monday, Kambi met with Kuppet national officials led by national chairman Omboko Milemba and deputy Secretary General Moses Nthurima at his offices where the outstanding issues were discussed and an “agreement” was claimed to have been clinched.

Nthurima and Milemba who spoke at the joint press conference with Kambi in the ministry’s offices at National Social Security Fund (NSSF) building appeared to contradict the Principal Secretary for Labour when he announced that Board of Governors for the schools across the country should take charge of the management of the institutions as teachers would not be held liable for any eventuality.

Milemba in the meeting attended by Bomet Central MP Ronald Tonui said that the decision to call off the strike or issue further communications to the Kuppet members rests with the NGC which will be convened this morning.

“We have been assured by the Cabinet Secretary for Labour that the money to meet our demands will be raised within the next three days so as to settle this issue once and for all..but we want to see the money first,” Milemba said.

Kambi assured Kuppet officials during the meeting that their demands for increased salaries, harmonisation of commuter, house and leave allowances for teachers and civil servants, responsibility allowances for principals and their deputies, head teachers and their deputies and Heads of Departments (HODs) will be addressed within three days.

“The issues the union have raised are genuine and should have been sorted out a long time ago had the ministry of Labour been involved. The government will do whatever it takes to ensure implementation of salary and allowances which had been agreed,” Kambi said.

Kambi said, “It is the right of the teachers to demand for the implementation of the issues and I am assuring all stakeholders that the ministries of Labour, Education and Treasury will sit down and find a lasting solution for the problem,”

Earlier in the day, Nyamu who on the other hand was flanked by other Knut officials including national chairman Wilson Sossion claimed that officials in the ministry of Labour and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) had refused to meet them to address the issues.

“The purported strike by other unions is a ploy by the government keen on paying commuter allowances agreed on last year which should not be an issue now,” Nyamu said.

The Knut officials said that it was sad that in the recent budgetary estimates for the year 2013/2014, the Principal Secretary for National Treasury had not factored in money to pay the teachers as per the agreement with the government that was legally binding.

In total Kuppet is demanding 25.5 billion whose breakdown is – harmonised commuter allowance, Sh11.2 billion, leave allowances of Sh1.4 billion, responsibility allowances Sh3.9 billion, promotion of teachers Sh4 billion, training of teachers Sh600 million.

Honour agreement

Knut is demanding Sh4 billion for promotion of teachers, Sh5 billion for recruitment of 24,000 ECD teachers, Sh47 billion for back dated allowances from 1997.

During the meeting with Kaimenyi, Ruto asked TSC to urgently meet with the unions and address the issues relating to salaries and allowances that have not been implemented.

At the same time, Ruto announced that the government will honour the deal with the university teaching staff as Treasury will provide Sh1.8 billion for their pay. “The Government will honour the agreement reached with university staff and Sh1.8 billion will be provided,” he said.

The University Academic Staff Union has threatened to go on strike on July 1, if its  agreed salary increase was not effected.

“We are aware of the need to increase the number of teachers so that we can have a better teacher to student ratio,” the Deputy President observed. “We want to get some money to employ more teachers.”