Teachers Service Commission reinstates Starehe Boys Principal

By Standard Digital Reporter

NAIROBI, KENYA: Teachers Service Commission has dismissed decision by the Managing Committee of Starehe Boys Centre and School to Principal Paul W. Mugo on compulsory leave.

In a statement, teachers’ employer said the committee had no legal mandate to sack the Principal.

“The Managing Committee has no mandate whatsoever under any law to send a headteacher or any other teacher employed by the Commission on compulsory leave for whatever reasons,” said Gabriel Lengoibon, TSC Chief Executive

“There are clearly stipulated mechanisms to deal with any grievance or allegations without inviting anarchy to the management of institution.  In any case, due process has to be taken into account while taking action on an employee,” he said.

TSC said the decision to deploy another teacher to perform the duties of the principal is equally misguided and, consequently, a nullity.  According to Lengoibon, it is only the Commission that can make such an appointment.  In the meantime, Mr Mugo has been advised to continue performing the duties of the Principal of Starehe Boys Centre and School.

“He is the bonafide headteacher duly appointed by the Commission in line with Section 11(e) of the Teachers Service Commission Act, 2012.”

The drop in the national exam rankings of Starehe Boys Centre for the past two years appears to behind the move to send the school’s Principal Paul Mugo on compulsory leave, the first time such a thing has occurred in the school's long history.

The school’s Director Matthew Kithyaka announced Wednesday that the school management committee had taken the decision against Mugo and two other school officials to send them packing for one month.

This comes as the school failed to appear in the top ten ranking of schools in the 2013 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams for the second year running. The school’s Board of managing committee also sent packing the school’s accounts officer and the executive assistant to the Director.

“The management committee will make a decision on the fate of the Principal during the one month compulsory leave. I do not wish to speculate on their decision,” he said in a press briefing at the school.

Deputy Principal Peter Ndungu will be in charge of the institution temporarily as the school’s management committee decide whether to send Mugo packing for good or reinstate him with strict instructions to turn around the performance of the school. Mugo became Principal in 2009.