NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 28 – Teachers under the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have defied a court order issued on Tuesday, refusing to suspend their ongoing strike.
Despite the Employment and Labour Relations Court’s directive to halt the strike, KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori affirmed that the industrial action would continue.
The union has instructed its lawyers to challenge the court order, with Misori criticizing the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for using adversarial methods to address the dispute.
“The TSC has shown bad faith in choosing adversarial means to address an industrial relations issue,” Misori stated. “They have considered themselves to be the superior party in this industrial relations, yet we both are creations of the law, and therefore they must abide by what the law stipulates.”
Misori further explained the union’s decision to seek legal interpretation of the matter: “This is the reason for which we have moved to the courts to seek interpretation of the same.”
The TSC had filed an urgent application in the Employment and Labour Relations Court after teachers refused to report to classes as the third term commenced. The case is scheduled for mention and further directions on September 5.
Meanwhile, secondary school teachers in Eldoret, Nyeri, Mombasa, and other towns held protests, demanding that their grievances be addressed. Misori accused the TSC of neglecting the principles of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and failing to pay teachers special allowances.
“In fact, the Teachers Service Commission, the people presiding over it should watch out. They have killed the morale of teachers,” Misori warned.
In Mombasa, police have repeatedly denied teachers a permit to hold protests, despite requests from union officials. KUPPET Mombasa Branch Executive Secretary Lynnet Kamadi criticized the TSC for underpaying teachers with degrees and called for intern teachers to be employed on permanent and pensionable terms.
“Police officers are out here carrying firearms and wearing uniforms forgetting that it was the teachers who taught them. The world will teach their children,” Kamadi remarked.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced that teachers would receive their July and August salary increments by Friday. He also promised the government would employ an additional 20,000 teachers by the end of the year to address the shortage of educators.
The ongoing strike has disrupted learning in high schools, many of which remain closed, and has raised concerns for students scheduled to sit for their national examinations in October and November. The teachers’ demands include the confirmation of 46,000 interns, the promotion of 130,000 teachers who completed interviews, and improvements to substandard healthcare services.
