Country in crisis mode: Education, health, economy in dire straits

KUPPET members demonstrate a long Moi Avenue in Mombasa on August 30, 2024. [Omondi Onyango,Standard] Hopping from one crisis to the next, the country is navigating myriad hurdles in quick succession, at times teetering on the brink. Barely three years since assuming the reins, a crumbling education sector, an ailing health docket and an economy characterised by debt accumulation have all exposed the soft underbelly of President William Ruto's policies that have since put the country in a state of uncertainty. The education sector is facing multiple crises ranging from the ongoing teachers' strike to the contested higher education funding model that has been labelled discriminatory. Teachers have embarked on a countrywide strike agitating for the conversion of 46,000 Junior Secondary School teacher's terms to permanent and pensionable; hiring 20,000 new teachers, and promoting 130,000 tutors who have stagnated in various job grades. Sharp divisions between teachers under the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) on the status of the strike have also put the school calendar in jeopardy as evidenced by the low turnout of learners across the country as schools re-opened for the third term last week. While Knut members have reported to schools and appeared to call off the strike, their counterparts in Kuppet have sustained the industrial action to push for the implementation of their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). And speaking on Spice FM on Friday, Knut Secretary-General Collins Oyuu sought to explain the union's decision to withdraw a strike notice that was jointly issued with Kuppet. Oyuu noted that the union called off the planned industrial action after a substantial portion of their demands were addressed. "We evaluated the major issue that had been resolved, specifically the implementation of Phase 2 of the CBA. The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has enacted this phase, and teachers have received their arrears for July and August," said Oyuu. Knut had initially issued a strike notice on August 25, coinciding with the start of the third term. Knut had requested that TSC remit third-party deductions, such as bank and Sacco loans, that had been accrued but not paid. Oyuu confirmed that TSC had addressed these deductions and that a technical team was working on teacher promotions. Additionally, Knut verified that Minet-engaged hospitals were treating teachers as agreed. Kuppet Secretary-General Akello Misori on the other hand expressed surprise at Knut's withdrawal, questioning the swift resolution of teacher demands. Public policy and governance expert Tom Mboya now attributes the uneasy state of the nation and multiple crises to poor leadership by the Ruto administration at many levels. "The result of such a crisis of leadership is the situation that currently pertains; a people who are disillusioned by their leadership, and a country where multiple crises are brewing at the same time, forcing the government into a constant fire-fighting mode, leaving the numerous economic and social issues unresolved. ''All the while, the same leadership have mistakenly turned their attention to 2027 elections, and have resumed their places atop their vehicles," says Mboya. The health sector is also staring at a crisis following four confirmed cases of Mpox in the country. The four confirmed cases are in Taita Taveta, Busia, Nairobi, and Nakuru counties. Health PS Mary Muthoni said on Saturday that two more samples are pending confirmation. So far, close to 600,000 travellers have been screened since the country confirmed its first case. Before the emergence of the virus, however, the health docket had been on clutches thanks to a doctor's strike that lasted for the better part of the first half of the year. The strike, emanating from the government's delay in the enactment of a 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, kicked off in March lasting a staggering 56 days. The more than 4,000 doctors drawn from public hospitals were pushing for the implementation of comprehensive health insurance and the posting of medical interns. They protested proposals to reduce intern salaries by close to 80 per cent and also staffing shortages in hospitals. The strike was however called off in May after the government and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union signed a return-to-work agreement, bringing relief to the sick who had been unable to get treatment in public hospitals. Then there is the issue of Kenya's foreign and domestic debt which had crossed the Sh11.1 trillion mark. The surging debt sparked anti-government protests in June forcing the government to rethink its fiscal strategy and put on hold proposed tax hikes. Mboya further notes that in the current environment, there is little political goodwill to address entrenched corruption given that the priorities of the political class tend to exacerbate the levels of graft. "It is clear there is a lack of seriousness with regards to steadying the ship. It seems there is a feeling of "crisis averted" following the Gen Z protests. The reality is that our economic situation remains dire. The focus needs to shift to solutions for problems Kenyans are dealing with on a day-to-day basis."

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