What irony that in the court ruling on teachers, government had its way

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion (Right) chats with Central Organization of Trade Union (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli (Left) on September 9, 2015 at a rally in Uhuru park Grounds, Nairobi. PHOTO | GERALD ANDERSON | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• Nothing illustrates the danger that the Jubilee regime has become better than its treatment of teachers.
• Proposal to pay teachers 50-60 per cent increment was not only provided by government, but was also sanctioned as affordable.
• It is, indeed, very embarrassing for the President to suggest, even if glibly, that the court was wrong to award teachers their due.
• One wonders if the reason behind the recent release and publication of the PAC Report and the emphasis on the so-called failures of the Chief Justice are not tied to a calculated attempt to push the courts to favour the government on the duel with teachers.

By GODWIN MURUNGA
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It is deeply ironical that in the various court decisions relating to the salary disputes between the teachers and the government, the latter had its way.

Yet, the government is now unwilling to pay what it said it could afford.

The President, with his new penchant for making ill-advised public declarations, was quick to declare that he will not pay teachers.

Nothing illustrates the danger that the Jubilee regime has become better than its treatment of teachers.

JUBILEE'S CONTRADICTIONS

Jubilee is its own greatest enemy. Its contradictions are now beyond many, they are fast becoming legendary.

Why, for instance, does the government feel comfortable spending huge sums on the National Youth Service, including what is lost through corruption, and not on paying teachers?

Is it not the case that the demographics of the teachers is just as youthful?

But the truth is that expecting the government to think better than they already do is to ask for far too much.

Ours is a country where consistency does not matter; a country where internal contradictions form the stuff that makes politicians thrive.

CHOREOGRAPHED PROCESS

As such, it is not accidental that the government is refusing to pay teachers. The refusal is, in fact, the culmination of choreographed process.

You just have to recall that when many Kenyans were opposed to taking the PEV suspects to the ICC, a group of politicians lined up to demand that Kofi Annan take the list to The Hague

When segments of the political class mounted a campaign to create a local mechanism, another segment, perhaps more powerful than the former, waged a counter campaign and enlisted the support of some of the suspects to defeat champions of the local mechanism.

Mr William Ruto was even ‘prophetic’ about it; arguing that by the time the cases are completed at the ICC, most of the suspects would be dead. He was wrong.

The same logic applies to the teachers. The assumption that government only needs to hold on for so long and the teachers will give up seems to have informed the political thinking.

In the long drawn-out duel between Knut and the TSC, many people within Jubilee have played different roles, changing positions and opinion almost at will.

GOVERNMENT PROPOSED INCREMENT

But facts remain; the proposal to pay teachers 50-60 per cent increment was not only provided by government, but was also sanctioned as affordable.

We know that in the long history of this struggle, the current President and his Deputy have played various roles at different times.

At one point, the DP negotiated a deal to end a strike.

Let us remember that the current President was the minister in charge of the Treasury.

It is for this reason that any excuse the President gives or any explanation government suggests is suspicious, diversionary and, quite frankly, unconvincing.

Everything about the context of the teachers salary duel with government has seen the government have its way.

It is, indeed, very embarrassing for the President to suggest, even if glibly, that the court was wrong to award teachers their due.

This is because it is the government that proposed these rates.

Indeed, we must let the President know that this attack on the courts is a sure way towards anarchy.

CHIEF JUSTICE FAILURES

One wonders if the reason behind the recent release and publication of the PAC Report and the emphasis on the so-called failures of the Chief Justice are not tied to a calculated attempt to push the courts to favour the government on the duel with teachers.

For how can one explain why a report done two years ago suddenly begins to gain traction in the media now?

My parents are retired teachers; I know what we missed by the simple fact that teachers were underpaid.

The Jubilee government must change this situation by honouring and paying the figures it presented to the courts.