Secondary school teachers across the country have warned the government against delaying their salaries on the premise that there has been a cash flow problem at the national treasury, promising to stage the biggest strike ever to be held by teachers over salary delays.
Under their umbrella organization, Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) they said that teachers will begin the nationwide strike next month should there be another salary delay.
They were led by KUPPET Secretary General, Akello Misori, who was speaking in Kisumu at the ongoing Kenya Science and Engineering fair.
He said teachers’ pay was budgeted for during the last financial year, adding that no other explanation for delaying their pay is plausible.
Misori said that as a union, they are monitoring events very closely as far the salary for their members is concerned.
He told teachers to prepare to leave the class and go to the streets to demand for better terms of employment, noting that most teachers are still struggling under the disruptions brought by Covid-19 pandemic and payment of salaries in bits will be a disadvantage to them.
Misori said teachers have a huge workload that they are trying to address and delayed salaries will complicate matters for them.
He said the curriculum was compressed after the pandemic and most teachers are trying to adjust to the changes.
The country is facing an unprecedented financial crisis that resulted in delays in the payment of March salaries for civil servants, Members of Parliament and county employees. Government employees were told to brace themselves for more salary delays amid a worsening economic situation in the country.
Some county government workers are already on strike with the health sector the worst hit.
The National Treasury announced that government is caught between under-performing revenues and limited access to finance due to a narrowing borrowing headroom.
Kisumu County KUPPET Executive Secretary Zablon Awange said teachers were already demoralized over the salary issue.
Awange revealed that the union is ready to engage in talks with the government to review their salaries.
Fredrick Odiero
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