One day, Ms Juliana Kitchwen had a dream of leaving the teaching profession to join elective politics and enjoy the perks that come with the lucrative offices of county governments, including privacy, detailed security, huge allowances, foreign travel, and supreme insurance coverage for herself and her family.
The former secondary school principal in Uasin Gishu had hoped to jump from the core of waking up in the wee hours of the morning to travel to school for daily duties that could go on into the late night hours without the commensurate allowances.
Knowing that education was not among the devolved units, the former principal was heading for a managerial seat, away from the hustle and bustle of moving from one class to another within the school compound.
Kitchwen’s dreams had included being elected a Member of Parliament for Cherangany constituency or the Woman Representative for Trans Nzoia County, before she was persuaded to drop out of elective politics and was promised an appointment in the subsequent county government that would be formed.
And as it came to pass, Lady Luck fell upon her when she was appointed as one of the nine CEC members in the county government of Trans Nzoia, before her official retirement from the Teacher Service Commission (TSC).
Notably, she was selected by Governor George Natembeya to head the Education docket, having extensive experience in the field before her appointment. She was later moved to the Public Service Management (PSM) in an arrangement undertaken by the Governor to strengthen his county administration.
She finally met Waterloo early this year when she was shown the door alongside the other two CEC members, Boniface Wanyonyi (Finance) and Stanley Kirui (Trade). Before the sack, the trio had faced numerous threats of impeachment motions from the members of the Trans Nzoia County Assembly, which later gradually withered out.
She took up the new job at the county headquarters notwithstanding the conditions of the contracted employment compared to her former job, which was permanent and pensionable.
She was also aware that her new job was under the mercy of the governor, who with a stroke of the pen could send her packing with the MCAs on the side who would think of her as not singing to their tune.
It is not known whether she will be seeking legal action against the Trans Nzoia County Government for terminating her job mid-way, or look for alternative employment if the TSC refuses to re-admit her to the payroll.
Her story bears resemblance to that of Godfrey Owour, the former principal of St Joseph’s Boys National School, who resigned to join the Kakamega County Government upon its formation by Ferdinand Barasa as governor in 2022.
Little did Owuor know that staying with the county government would raise eyebrows, leading to his suspension as the CEC member for Finance. It took Gov Barasa’s personal initiative to seek Owour’s recall, but being pushed to a low-key position in the administration.
And for a principal in West Pokot, whom we cannot name for security reasons, the man who had been hired by the former governor, Prof John Lonyangapuo, to head a county authority, was dismissed upon the election of the new governor, Simon Kachapin, in 2022.
The principal, who had previously headed a senior school in the area, was seconded to a school in the remote areas of the county upon his reinstatement to the TSC payroll. However, after a lengthy struggle to convince his former employer, the TSC, he had not quit the teaching profession altogether.
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These are just examples of hundreds of teachers who, upon Devolution in 2010, moved to the county government in search of greener pastures. For those who have documented unpaid leaves, the teachers in the new positions are currently facing political threats, putting their careers in jeopardy.
The threats stem from accusations of underperformance, abuse of office, suspension of employment contracts, and corruption.
According to the High Court Advocate George Wambura, the TSC was founded in the early 1960s to stabilise the teaching profession in the countryside. Thus, it should not be devolved to allow teachers to move away, creating an imbalance in the teaching fraternity.
Wambura cautioned that sooner or later, the county governments will find themselves in a situation where the defunct Local Authorities, which were unable to pay salaries and compensation to teachers who joined them from the county and municipal councils, will be a problem.
The Kitale-based lawyer said the result of recalled teachers to TSC is low morale and poor performance, as they will first have to adjust to their former lifestyles in the teaching profession. Those mainly affected are those from rural and hardship areas, most of whom decline to report to the new stations.
Trans Nzoia was cited as a county that hired the highest number of practising teachers, mostly from secondary schools, into Natembeya’s administration as opposed to his predecessor, Patrick Khaemba, from 2017 to 2022.
Among the pioneer teachers appointed by Governor Natembeya as CEC members were Janerose Katama, Jackson Amboka, Patrick Gacheru, Phanice Khatundi, and the Chief of Staff, Dickson Wamocho. Safe for Gacheru, who had officially retired from TSC, the rest were picked from class, hoping to use the new jobs to climb the ladder to greener pastures.
The other appointments in the county administration included the Chief Officers, COs Kennedy Etyang, Dr Roselyne Nasiebada, and Jane Masika, who also fear for jobs in the murky political county that has, of late, attracted national limelight following the arraignment in court of Natembeya over allegations of the Ksh 1.4 billion corruption.
In the ongoing struggle for political supremacy, the Trans Nzoia county boss had saved the face of Ms Mutama by moving her from the Lands docket to the Education department after it became apparent that the MCAs had plotted to impeach her.
By Abisai Amugune in Kitale
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