By Geoffrey Mosoku
Nairobi, Kenya: The senate Wednesday was united in demanding that the Government honours the 1997 salary deal arrived between the state and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT).
Senators who included Kiraitu Murungi, Janet Ongera, Otieno Kajwang, Daniel Karaba, Anyang Nyongo, Moses Wetangula, Kimani Wa Matangi and Bonny Khalwale strongly spoke in support of the teachers demands.
This is after Senate adjourned their afternoon session to discuss the ongoing nationwide teachers’ strike that enters its third day Thursday and has seen learning paralysed in schools across the country come to a halt for the last two days.
Kiarautu (Meru) said that the Government should seat and negotiate with teachers warning that failure by the state to honour its obligations may lead to more strikes in the public sector.
He said teachers are a critical pillar in the education sector and called for the harmonization of the teachers pay to that of civil servants.
“This matter must be dealt with comprehensively because we are tired of seeing teachers on the streets year in, year out,” Kiraitu said.
Ms Onge’ra (Nominated) and Wetang’ula (Bungoma) accused the Jubilee Government of pushing for wrong priorities instead of paying the teachers.
Ms Ongera said that the Jubilee Government priorities were upside down and wondered why the state was keen on giving kids to kids who walks barefoot and on empty stomachs to school as their teachers cry for their unpaid allowances.
Wetang’ula on his side lashed at Cabinet Secretaries Jacob Kaimenyi and Kazungu Kambi for what he called as an arrogant approach to the teachers strike.
The Bungoma senator who is the Minority Leader told off the two ministers for their stand that the 1997 saying in law, once part of a deal has been implemented, the state cannot turn and disown it.
“This is the height of populism when jubilee promises to give class one pupils laptops when there is a serious problem with teachers,” he said.
Khalwale (Kakamega) warned that the two secretaries against exercising a modicum of dictatorship against teachers and demanded that the two apologise to the teachers.
“Kenya is not broke because it can afford jet for deputy president for Sh100 million for missions in countries that Kenya does not do business with. We want to give children who are yet to join schools Sh53 billion worth of laptops, while we ignore the same teachers who will teach the same pupils on how to use the laptops,” he said.
Kiambu senator Paul Wamatangi called for sobriety and urged senators to divorce the issue of laptops from the teachers’ salary deal of 1997.
Minority leader Moses He proposed that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) should help in harmonization of all public servants.
Nyongo said the laptop should be converted to IT education and called for the discussions with the national treasury to deliberate on where the money to implement the project will come from.
