Kenya: The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has said the 50-60% pay rise was offered by Teachers Service Commission in a meeting where Treasury was present thus sustainable.
This comes a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta, in a televised address, said the wage bill is bloated and giving teachers a pay increment will leave the country with little to spend on development.
KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion said they are saddened by the nature of information given to the president.
“At no one time has the President invited teachers to consult with them on the way forward. He is being fed with lies by other parties”, Sossion said Monday, in a press conference.
Teachers have vowed not to call off the strike until their pay increment is honoured. Sossion said no teacher will supervise or mark national exams until the matter is resolved. He argued that instructional period must be concluded for students to sit for exams.
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Sossion further faulted Uhuru’s remarks saying the lowest paid teacher gets Sh16, 692 and not Sh23, 692 as announced by the president Sunday.
He alleged the Salaries and Remuneration Commission awarded TSC a hefty pay increment in December 2014 adding that the teachers’ salaries have not been harmonised.
“When it comes to state officers, the GDP is strong but it becomes weak when teachers ask for a pay rise,” Sossion said.
