By James Anyanzwa
Finance Minister Robinson Njeru Githae Wednesday maintained a hard-line stance over the on-going teachers’ strike saying the Government did not have even a single cent to pay the teachers.
Githae who was furious over blames that he had snubbed a meeting called to resolve the teachers saga said he was ready to be sacrificed, condemned or even be abused but would not rescind his decision in the interest of the 40 million Kenyans, the economy and the country at large.
Githae said he couldn’t compromise the welfare of Kenyans as a finance minister by taking a populist decision.
In addition, he questioned the rationale behind teachers calling for strikes during election years.
“I don’t want to enter into a popularity contest but I want to do what is right for the country. If there is nothing in the budget there is nothing we can do,” Githae told reporters at the Treasury buildings in Nairobi, Wednesday.
“For the sake of the county, I’m prepared to be sacrificed, to be condemned and to accept abuses hurled at me.”
Githae said the teachers’ demands are unrealistic and detrimental to the country’s fragile economy, which has been staggering below five per cent for the last five years.
He said funding teacher’s salary demands would mean increasing taxes for the ordinary Kenyans and particularly income tax from the current 30 per cent to 60 per cent.
He said teachers demands also imply that the Government suspends development projects such as road construction, schools, bridges and hospitals in order to cater for their wage bills.
Githae added that it would be ‘irresponsible’ for him as a finance minister to borrow from the development partners to pay for the teachers’ monthly wages.
This, he said, would be ‘unsustainable” adding that “at the moment, the average wage of the public sector for the first time now is higher than the private sector.”
Githae also said as the Minister of Finance, he did not have powers under the new constitution to authorise payment for any expenditure that were not budgeted for in the current financial year, but that was a responsibility of the parliament.
“At the moment the minister for finance has no powers to approve anything that is not in the budget. I have no powers to authorise even five cents if it is not in the budget,” he said.
“I have been wondering why you say the minister of finance is insensitive. Parliament is now a budget making institution and it is no longer a rubber-stamping body. You are blaming a wrong person.”
Terming the teachers’ 300 per cent salary increment demand as ‘unaffordable and unsustainable’ the minister appealed to the teachers to call off the strike and wait for the recommendations of a cabinet sub-committee, which is currently looking into the matter.
“In my view as, I have to look at the economy holistically. We must avoid wage spirals, which are going to come. I have to look at the welfare of the 40 million Kenyans,” he said.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has insisted that the strike would take longer than expected because the Government had shown little interest in resolving the crisis.
On Tuesday, National Chairman Omboko Milemba noted that the Government had once again snubbed attempts aimed at addressing the matter worsening an already tense situation.
