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By Augustine Oduor
Kenya: Teachers have created a sh20 million monthly reserve fund to cushion them against government intimidation during their nationwide strikes.
The fund will also cushion teachers during national disasters and other unforeseen catastrophes, Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) announced Monday.
This means that teachers will no longer take salary-withholding threats from the government during their national strikes.
Over 2000 delegates voted during the union’s Annual Delegates Conference (ADC) to contribute Sh100 towards the kitty. The giant teachers union currently has over 193,000 members.
Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said the fund will insure teachers against effects of strikes and other ‘unique programs’ that must be done.
The union suffered major set backs when the government withheld June and July salaries for teachers who participated in the strike against the court order.
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) wrote a terse letter to Teachers Service Commission (TSC) instructing the teachers’ employer not to pay teachers who boycotted work after the industrial court ruled the strike was illegal.
And now Knut says incase of such directive, the union will send teachers monies to their account as they push on with their objective.
The union has already threatened another strike over promotion of some 53, 000 teachers who have undertaken various professional courses.
“The management of this fund will be centralised and it will be done outside union operation,” said Sossion.
He said the monies collected would be invested in Treasury bills, fixed deposit accounts and in acquisition of property.
“At some point, deductions will stop because we shall have raised sufficient monies to enable the fund multiply effectively,” he said.
This means that in one year, the union will have raised in excess of Sh240 million.
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“It has to multiply into billions before subscriptions can stop. But this fund will be more than just cushioning against strikes,” he said.
He added: “Teachers are often very vulnerable incase of disasters. We shall work on other ways to see our members work without emotional strain.’