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Teachers from Mandera stage protest to Parliament

The over 800 teachers had been camping at the KNUT headquarters Tuesday morning waiting to be addressed by MPs in the Education Committee who failed to turn up/MIKE KARIUKI

The over 800 teachers had been camping at the KNUT headquarters Tuesday morning waiting to be addressed by MPs in the Education Committee who failed to turn up/MIKE KARIUKI

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 3 – Hundreds of teachers from Mandera held a demonstration to Parliament on Tuesday to demand its intervention after the government declined to transfer them over insecurity concerns.

The over 800 teachers had been camping at the KNUT headquarters Tuesday morning waiting to be addressed by MPs in the Education Committee who failed to turn up.

Wajir South MP Abdullahi Diriye who was present at the time tried to prevail on the teachers to go back to their posts since security had been beefed up but he was unsuccessful.

“We have heard your concerns and we are sorry about the deaths of those teachers in a bus in Mandera. I want to tell you that there is a problem of insecurity in many areas in our country and we have also talked to the government and it is being given priority,” he said.

“We as leaders from North Eastern, have put a lot of effort in ensuring that there is security in the North Eastern region. So what I want to appeal to you that as Kenyans, let us all do our part in building it up. If we leave our country, who will secure it?” he posed amidst jeers from the tutors.

The teachers vowed that they will not report to their work stations where their colleagues were executed by Al Shabaab militants last year.

“We know the MP stays in Nairobi… so there is no way that he can tell us to go back there and even if we are being sacked, we are prepared to stick it out,” said Esther Wanjuhi one of the teachers.

“We suffer more than the locals there. We are discriminated against and we pay double what the locals pay for their commodities,” Amos Omondi, a teacher from the Wajir West Secondary School said.

“There is also the issue of the attacks. We are attacked on a perpetual basis and the security that is being talked about is non-existent. We are not afraid to be sacked. We are going to stay put until we are transferred to other areas,” stated Luke Omindo from the Wagala Memorial Secondary school.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) stated that it will decide the fate of the teachers Wednesday following an assessment in the schools located in the region.

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An official from the commission told Capital FM News that officers will be collecting data on those who have absconded duty and forward them to the head office for the necessary action to be taken.

The teachers had been given up to Monday to report to work or face the sack.

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