Teachers should declare their wealth

Accountability is one of the key planks of our Constitution. This constitutional requirement is being put to good use in helping to root out undesirable individuals from public service and other institutions where the public goes in search of services.

For a long time, the general tendency with public servants has been to turn their offices and positions into cash cows. Cases where civil servants demand bribes from those who seek services have been on the upswing, denoting the steep rise in corruption cases. Most senior police officers, especially, have been at pains to explain their wealth vis-a-vis their salaries in the ongoing vetting exercise by the National Police Service Commission.

By the same yardstick, the Teachers Service Commission has put teachers on notice that they will be required to declare their wealth. There are cases where headteachers have literally run down their institutions through mismanagement and a sleight of hand that allows them to line their pockets with school funds.

This requirement is part of the new rules by the TSC that seek to restore sanity in the teaching profession. It is notable that some teachers have turned against their charges and sexually molested them. Last year, the Teachers Service Commission dismissed and blacklisted more than 200 teachers for defiling pupils under their care.

But the number of teachers accused of defiling minors is said to be much higher than those on the blacklist. Some of the defilement cases ended up with TSC being ordered to pay two minors Sh5 million in 2010 after a court established that they had been defiled by their teachers.

Yet while such measures demand the support of all, teachers' unions view them as an attempt to micromanage teachers. Unless teachers and their unions have something to hide, they cannot operate in a vacuum. Every organisation must operate within the confine of rules and regulations.