By Tony Wafula
Mt Elgon KNUT Executive Secretary Stephen Chemonges has said that the Monday protests that were staged in some parts of the country were unfair to the teachers and students across the country.
In an interview with Education News on Thursday, Chemonges noted that at a good number of students in the counties of Nairobi and Nyanza missed classes because of the Azimio la Umoja protests.
The protests also saw Maseno University students shot dead by police officers who were trying to disburse protestors.
The families of the slain Maseno University student are now demanding justice to be served for their slain student.
The Unionist called on President William Ruto and the opposition leader Raila Odinga to find a long lasting solution and resolve issues between them saying that there is no difference between the demonstrations and the banditry attacks in the counties of Baringo and Turkana.
“The government should take a quick and precise decision and resolve the demonstration issues in the country, we are not going to be a country of anarchy all the time,” the Unionist added.
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Chemonges however said that at the moment the country is battling several issues citing high cost of living, banditry attacks, increased taxes and climate change noting that the Azimio la Umoja should end protests.
Chemonges further asked ODM leader Raila Odinga to use possible means including the law, dialogue and international bodies to resolve the issue standing between him and the President.
“During the Saboat Land Defense Forces (SLDF) era learners were forced to stay out of school for nearly one year, we don’t want to see a repeat of that,” Chemonges noted.
He said that the government should put up security measures to ensure that school going children are protected and learning go on without interference from external forces.
Chemonges further urged the government to reconsider its decisions of funding public universities saying that the Universities are places where our children are given the hope for the future.
“If the University funding is scrapped it is going to disadvantage students from poor backgrounds who can’t pay for tuition levies from their own pockets,” he noted, adding; “The government will be killing the future of the country since many students will be forced to discontinue with University education. The demonstrations we are seeing today will again arise in a different way in the form of students and parents strikes in various Universities.”
He also said that the Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) are not going as expected as students in some schools have not yet started lessons citing lack of teachers and poor infrastructures.
“The government should move with speed to ensure that CBC is fully funded, otherwise it will fail like the Jubilee laptop project,” he said.
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