From lefT, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula, Siaya Senator James Orengo,
ODM National Chairman John Mbadi and Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa chat
before addressing reporters on Thursday. The Cord leaders said they are
preparing an impeachment motion against President Uhuru Kenyatta on the
grounds that his government has failed to honour a court order to pay
teachers higher salaries. PHOTO | GERALD ANDERSON | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Cord on Thursday said it was preparing an impeachment motion
against President Uhuru Kenyatta on the grounds that his government has
failed to honour a court order to pay teachers higher salaries.
The
15 MPs and senators spoke at Parliament a day before the deadline set
by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for striking teachers to return
to work and end their boycott, which enters its 17th day Friday.
They
said President Kenyatta was no longer fit to hold office because the
Jubilee administration had ignored a legitimate court order and,
therefore, deserved to be removed through impeachment.
On
July 23, the Court of Appeal directed the TSC to give its 288,060
teachers a pay rise of between 50 and 60 per cent spread over four
years.
The award is expected to cost Sh17 billion if
implemented in the current financial year, but the National Treasury has
said that the government has no money. Last week, President Kenyatta
ruled out paying the teachers.
The Cord lawmakers, led
by Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetang’ula, said they would lead a
demonstration in Nairobi on Wednesday to protest the manner in which the
government has handled the teachers’ strike.
NO MONEY
They also asked teachers to join the demonstration.
Mr Wetang’ula said the motion would be tabled in the National Assembly when the House returns from recess in two weeks.
He said the motion had the support of Jubilee MPs who are not happy with the way the government has treated teachers.
Some
Jubilee MPs from the South Rift had earlier this week expressed their
disappointment at the way the teachers are being treated by the
government.
Said Mr Wetang’ula: “We have agreed to
prepare an impeachment motion to remove the President for violating the
Constitution that he took an oath to protect.
“Having failed to obey the court order, he has, in effect, violated the Constitution.”
The
government has said it has no money to pay the salary increase as
ordered by the Court of Appeal and is banking on an appeal by the TSC to
reverse the July ruling.
The case is being heard at the Court of Appeal.
PROSPECT OF HIGHER TAXES
In
an advisory to the President, the National Treasury warned last week
that the only ways in which the government could raise the Sh17 billion
needed to pay the teachers was to raise Value Added Tax (VAT) from the
current 16 per cent to 21 per cent.
The other alternative was to borrow either locally or abroad, a move it said would hurt the shilling.
The
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), which called the strike on
September 2, has accused the government of shifting goal posts and
engaging in propaganda to evade paying teachers.
Should
the Opposition go ahead with its threat, it will require one of its MPs
to move the motion once the mover has obtained the support of a third
of all members in the National Assembly.
To pass, the
motion will require a vote of two thirds of all MPs, a tall order for
Cord, which has 131 members in the 349-member National Assembly and 29
out of 67 senators.
ACTION URGED ON STRIKE
Once
the motion is passed, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi will have
two days to submit it to his Senate counterpart, Mr Ekwee Ethuro, who
will have seven days to set up a committee to investigate the charges
against the President.
Should the allegations be substantiated, it will require a two-thirds vote of all senators to force the President out of office.
Were that to happen, Deputy President William Ruto would automatically become President and serve for the remainder of the term.
On
Thursday, the Opposition said the money allocated for the school
laptops project and the National Youth Service should be redirected to
pay the teachers.
In the Senate, lawmakers from both
sides of the political divide asked the government to act fast to avert
what they sais was crisis slowly becoming a catastrophe.
They said it was wrong for schoolchildren to continue paying the price for a dispute they knew nothing about.
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