Students of Moi Girls High School in Edoret town head home on September
19, 2015 after the government directed that all schools be closed
indefinitely. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The move by the government on Friday to close down schools
indefinitely created an uproar yesterday, even as the teachers’ employer
banked its hope on the courts to challenge the decision to award a huge
pay increase.
Private schools, which were also
ordered to close, have vowed to ignore the Cabinet decision as various
leaders faulted the government for rushing to close down schools instead
of seeking solutions to the salary dispute with the unions.
ODM, a key partner in the Opposition Cord, has demanded the re-opening of the schools.
“The
order by the government to close all schools is an attempt to
intimidate the teachers who are exercising their democratic right to
fair remuneration and the right to strike and picket,” said ODM in a
statement.
Details have also come to light on the
thinking within President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Cabinet that led to the
closing of schools on Friday. The President apparently told his inner
circle that he was prepared to pay the utmost political price instead of
playing “Moi-economics” by promising to pay what the government did not
have.
This was in reference to President Moi’s frequent unfulfilled pay rise promises to the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut).
MUIGAI TO ARGUE OUT
After
their meeting on Friday, the Cabinet tasked Attorney-General Githu
Muigai to personally represent the government at the court to argue out
the case.
“There is a belief that the court ruling
itself goes against the Constitution, which gives the Salaries and
Remuneration Commission the powers to determine salaries,” said a source
in the Office of the President, who spoke in confidence.
However,
President Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto did not comment on the
issue when they presided over a Standard Gauge Railway event in
Syokimau.
Yesterday, Cord leaders led by Siaya Senator
James Orengo and Minority Leader in the National Assembly Jakoyo Midiwo
notified the police of their scheduled Wednesday rally at Uhuru Park to
back striking teachers.
“We have convened a meeting
next week to press for the full settlement of the teachers’ salaries as
decreed by the courts. We must stand with our teachers at a time our
children are not learning because the government refuses to pay what has
been granted by the court,” said Orengo outside the Central police
station in Nairobi.
Mr Midiwo said Cord was also on the right track to impeach the President for alleged failure to respect the courts.
“If the President does not respect court rulings, we cannot expect anybody to,” said Mr Midiwo.
Private schools held a meeting in Nairobi and resolved to continue with schooling activities.
“As
private schools, we have agreed to continue with learning as we move to
engage the government on Monday (tomorrow). We are asking parents to
take their children to school and directors and principals will be
available to receive them,” Kenya Private Schools Association chief
executive officer Peter Ndoro told the Sunday Nation.
He said the private institutions face the risk of losing close to Sh40 billion if they heed the government directive.
“We
will complete our 11 weeks in school so that we can evaluate our
students before we close in November and give them a progress report
that will enable them to move to the next class,” said Mr Ndoro.
IGNORE DIRECTIVE
There are about 9,000 private schools with a population of 2 million students with 180,000 students being in secondary schools.
Public
primary and secondary schools have 29,460 and 8,747 respectively with a
total enrolment of 10 million students in primary and 2.3 million in
secondary schools.
In Embu, private school owners vowed to ignore the government’s directive to close down.
“The
government should recognise private schools as key partners in
complementing government efforts and we ask President Uhuru Kenyatta to
reconsider the decision. Private schools stand to suffer immense losses
since parents will skip paying fees,” said the county’s private schools
association chairman Francis Mbuthia.
In Kisumu, schoolheads and owners said they were staring at huge losses following closure of the institutions.
The
government has defended the decision saying it was taken to protect
students, staff, and the property in schools, and to allay the worries
of parents and guardians.
Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion said the only way forward was for the government to comply with the court order.
Mr Sossion appeared to soften his position on negotiations with the government but only if it pays teachers.
“We
can unlock this crisis even by Monday (tomorrow) but only if the
government comes with the money that we want. The government has not
consulted us up to date and it has not shown any commitment to comply
with the order,” said Mr Sossion.
The Kenya Union of
Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) chairman Omboko Milemba said
the decision by the ministry only exacerbates the matter as parents and
children have now “officially” joined the strike.
“We
ask teachers to remain calm and energised as the strike moves to the
next level. It is now the people’s strike, not teachers’ any more,” said
Mr Milemba.
The Teachers’ Service Commission declined
to comment on whether or not it had struck off teachers from the payroll
by Friday as it had threatened.
SOLIDARITY WITH TEACHERS
Yesterday,
while speaking in Bungoma, Senator Moses Wetang’ula said the opposition
was in solidarity with the teachers and they would put the government
to task over the matter.
Mr Wetang’ula said the
government was not serious on the plight of students in public schools
and thus the reason for starting the impeachment notice.
He
added that it was wrong for President Kenyatta to disobey court orders
to pay teachers, saying this was a ground for impeachment.
Mr
Wetang’ula said that the same court that legitimised President Uhuru’s
election was the one that ordered teachers’ pay to be increased and, as
such, should be respected.
“A President who disobeys
the Constitution and the courts deserves to be impeached. They swore to
protect and respect the Constitution and should therefore pay teachers
as ordered by the courts,” said Mr Wetang’ula.
Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa said that no national examination would be conducted until teachers were paid their dues.
“When
Parliament resumes we will initiate a petition to ask Mr Henry Rotich
to bring us a supplementary budget that will ensure teachers are paid,”
said Dr Wamalwa.
However, Anglican Church of Kenya,
Mumias Diocese’s Beneah Salala asked politicians to keep off the
teachers’ issue. He added that failure to solve the matter showed
failure in leadership.
Kenya Secondary Schools Heads
Association chairman John Awiti said that without covering the syllabus,
it will become difficult to promote students to the next class.
And
with the stay of candidates in schools, he said the budget for paying
the non-teaching staff had risen, a situation complicated by lack of
funds from the national government.
“We are in a very
difficult situation right now. And the sad thing is that our hands are
tied. There are food items that schools had purchased, which will now go
to waste with students back home,” said Mr Awiti.
NOT TO RELENT
In Kwale, assembly education committee chairman Anthony Yama asked public school teachers not to relent on their demands.
However, most schools in Kisii County sent their students home yesterday.
A
spot check by the Sunday Nation found that most of the boarding schools
in the county had sent students home before the government’s directive.
Some private schools had not sent their students home.
In
Mombasa, the private school association has warned that more than
16,000 teachers and subordinate staff in private schools are likely to
go without salaries if private schools also remain closed.
The
chairman, Mr Omari Mbuli, said there are at least 768 private schools
in the county, each with more than 20 staff members who are paid using
school fees.
Reports by Ouma Wanzala, Lilian
Mutavi, Duncan Ageta, Silas Apollo, James Kariuki, Charles Wanyoro,
Farouk Mwabege, Rebecca Okwany and Anita Chepkoech
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