Teachers To Go On Strike In January

By Kariuki Waihenya, The Nation (Nairobi), 7 December 2000

Nairobi - Teachers yesterday resolved to go on strike in January unless the remaining phases of their 1997 salary increment are implemented.

They also vowed to resist mass transfers aimed at distributing teachers fairly countrywide.

The government, however, insisted that the teachers will have to agree to the transfers or face retrenchment.

The teachers are attending the annual delegates conference of the Kenya National Union of Teachers at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, Nairobi.

They said they were tired of endless negotiations with the government over the shelved salary deal, and they would down tools at the beginning of next term to force the government to pay up.

"We cannot believe the government has no funds to implement the salaries and yet it is able to give MPs a hefty pay rise and allowances," said the union's national chairman, Mr. John Katumanga.

But Education Director Sammy Kyungu told the more than 2,000 delegates that the government wanted to improve the terms and working conditions of teachers "but it simply does not have the money to do so".

Teachers were awarded a salary rise of between 150 and 200 per cent in 1997 following recommendations by the Teachers Service Remuneration Committee.

After a countrywide teachers' strike, the government agreed to the increases, to be implemented in five phases, spread over five years. However, only the first phase, which involved a pay increase of between 25 and 45 per cent, was concluded in 1998.

Secretary General Ambrose Adongo said union officials held four meetings with government officials recently over the mass transfers and that the government had agreed that no teacher would be forced to move to a new station.

But the Teachers Service Commission Secretary, Benjamin Sogomo said: "We have only one option in the matter. We either go ahead with the transfers so that we can achieve balancing by January, or we retrench teachers in the overstaffed districts so that we can employ others to fill the understaffed areas."

But Mr. Adongo accused the TSC boss of threatening teachers, saying he was contradicting the spirit of dialogue between the union and the education officials.

He warned of industrial action if the government went ahead with the transfers.

The union boss said the Education Permanent Secretary, Prof Japeth Kiptoon, had promised during a recent meeting between the two parties, that no teacher would be moved against their will.

However, Mr. Sogomo said the balancing exercise only involved 3.6 per cent of the total number of teachers countrywide.

Teacher shortages have increased in the last few months due to deaths and retirement and that the shortage is expected to stand at 6,429 at the beginning of next year.

Mr. Sogomo said by January, there will be an understaffing of 11,872 teachers in 50 districts.

He said 24 districts were faced with a shortfall of 5,443 teachers.

When the transfers began in August, Mr. Sogomo explained, 5,783 teachers received their transfer letters. Out of these, 3,308 appealed against the move, with 978 having their transfers revoked "because they had genuine reasons as to why they should not be moved".