The leadership of the two giant teachers’ unions in the country has come out harshly against their employer, warning of a looming strike if it does not move quickly and sign their new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Kakamega County KUPPET Chairman Johnston Wabuti chairman and Patrick Chungani, the KNUT Regional Secretary for Western Region, while attending the recent Kakamega North Education Day read from the same script spewing venom of threats to the new chief executive officer (CEO) Eveleen Mitei to hasten the signing of their latest CBA before third term failure to which they will call for a national wide strike and cripple the exam progammes.
Their message which was directed to the principal secretary state department of Basic education Professor Ambassador Julius Bitok who was the chief guest at the ceremony and who was backed by Principal secretary state department of higher education Dr. Betty Inyangala and Principal secretary East African community (EAC) counterpart Dr. Ambassador Caroline Karugu respectively, was home and dry after KUPPET warned TSC to either change their tact on new CBA signing or be ready to face off with the teachers who will take to the streets with the now new help of Gen Z’s to put pressure on government to give them what is rightfully theirs.
“Our (CBA) ended in June 2024 and since September we have been begging the teachers service commission to come on the negotiating table and we agree to sign a new 4-year contract to empower teachers who are the custodians of thousands of learners within the country, but it has been playing cat and mouse with us. We have already had our share of troubles with the outgoing CEO Nancy Macharia who has left a very hopeless sector where teachers are demoralized we hope the new regime at TSC is not going to follow suit, please clean your house and start treating teachers with the decorum they need by signing their CBA or we will have no option but to meet at the cross roads come 3rd term,” cautioned Wabuti.
The vocal KUPPET chairman accused the outgoing TSC CEO, Dr Nancy Macharia, of sabotaging the promotions of genuinely interviewed teachers who were shortchanged by those who did not sit for the same interviews, prompting the MPs to step in and salvage the teachers.
KUPPET’s message is crystal clear: call us this early and give us money, CBA, not earlier maternity one, for the monetary one will motivate all teachers, and this will see us support the government in its endeavours, so the buck stops with you,” he challenged.
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Chungani, who took a swipe at the TSC for shifting its goalposts with teachers after they requested a monetary CBA following the completion of a 4-year maternity leave.
He said, “Let TSC know that we are not a joking lot and we can suffocate the commission if we decide to down our tools that it will be impossible even for them to access oxygen as the kind of carbon monoxide we will leave behind will be too much for them. Thus let them sign our CBA that will motivate our teachers and in return they will instill discipline in our learners and this will bring good results, because discipline of the learners is important, and let us emulate the Japanese models of academic excellence in relation to the teachers and learners are rewarded for their academic performance which is brought about by discipline which emanates from motivating teachers”
The outspoken unionist said it was time for teachers to be motivated for their exemplary work by a salary increment, hence the push for signing a new CBA, which he said was a legally processed document that the commission should respect.
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Chungani also raised issues with the promotions of teachers, noting that some of them have worked for many years without being considered for a promotion. When the time comes, they are often out of touch with reality.
We have teachers and principals who have been teaching for over 30 years. Then one day TSC wakes up to now promote them. When they come to the interview room, you sympathize with their morphology.
They cannot pass the interview even if they are tested as many times as they have almost given up; this is an academic accident and immorality of the highest order, as they were to be considered for promotion within their earlier years of service,” he wondered.
Commenting on the employment of teachers, he warned MPs against meddling in the employment process by selling TC employment letters for Ksh100,000 to male teachers and requesting sexual favours from female teachers in need of the letters.
Let us not subject our teachers to unnecessary demands, such as ‘pull up your socks’ or ‘pull up your skirt,’ implying that they’re not good enough to be employed. This is utter nonsense, as it is not the mandate of Parliament to engage teachers, but rather the Teachers Service Commission, which is done based on one’s year of graduation.
He also called on the Ministry of Education to fund schools in time for the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) to be able to pay for capacity-building initiatives, which involve training, research, and consultancy services.
He said KEMI was fleecing schools and should be rejected by school principals, as hosting them was costly. Yet, the Ministry of Education had failed to disburse funds to schools on time.
“We have rejected this KEMI thing, and we wonder who brought it here to us. If there are not enough funds from the ministry to cater to and facilitate this, then we totally reject it here in Kakamega county this year.”
By Wakhungu Andanje
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