The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET) officials in Murang’a county have maintained that despite the court order issued by the High Court on Tuesday, teachers will not go back to class until the government honours their demands.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court directed the teachers to report back to work immediately pending the hearing of the case their employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has filed against KUPPET.
KUPPET Murang’a Secretary General Mburu Mwangi who was addressing the press outside the County TSC offices maintained that the teachers would continue with their protests and argued that the move by TSC to go to court clearly indicated that the Commission and the government were not willing to address their issues.
“The court talked about the intended strike yet the strike had already begun so we cannot call it off on the basis of those orders,” he said adding that they would not bow to any intimidation from the government.
Mburu said the government has been taking them for a ride by giving them empty promises and asked teachers to stay put as they continued to fight for the dignity and esteem of their profession.
“Since we have not seen any commitment by the TSC or the Ministry to meet our demands, our strike is here to stay and we want the government to know we are not going back to class until we get what we have been bargaining for,” he said.
Mburu cautioned field officers from the Ministry of Education and Principals against trying to intimidate teachers and harassing them to go back to class saying this was undermining the strike.
“They should not forget that we are all teachers and they will also benefit from what we are fighting for,” he said.
He also reprimanded the teachers who were not on strike terming them as traitors and urged them to stay at home if they were not willing to come out in the streets.
The County KUPPET Chairperson Michael Ng’ang’a said the Minister for Education was on record saying that the issues being raised by the teachers were valid therefore the teachers would patiently wait for the government to address their issues no matter how long it takes.
“The moment the government fulfills our demands we shall go back to class and this time we are not taking any empty promises,” Ng’ang’a stated.
The teachers called upon parents and students to be patient as the government resolves their issues.
By Purity Mugo
