The recent order by the court to the government pay teachers a basic salary increment of 50-60% has attracted mixed reaction. In 1997 the government agreed to give teachers a pay rise of 300%, which was to be paid in five phases.
This was after the “mother” of all strikes which was orchestrated by the then Kenya National Union of Teachers boss the late Ambrose Adongo. The government paid only two phases of the collective bargaining agreement and the remaining three phases has been the reason behind the annual agitation by the educationists.
Receiving a pay rise is pleasurable going by the fact that inflation rates are at their best. I believe that we should not opt for this direction; not because the 2015/2016 financial year budget cannot accommodate this (a supplementary budget can take care of this), not because of the ballooning wage bill, not because teachers’ work has not been reviewed by the Sarah Serem-led Commission for Revenue Allocation but because of the underlying subtle effects it will have on our economy.
For a fact, any pay rise in any sector in the public service will create more inflation in our staggering economy. This will cause unforeseen suffering on our poorest of the poor we should always cushion; making it more difficult to deliver them from this awkward situation.
Instead of allowing the constant agitation for pay rises, which will never solve our problem once and for all, the government must embark on policies and practices which will make the cost of living affordable if not cheap for all Kenyans.
The government must seriously make key commodities tax exempt. Though we embrace open trade, the prices of commodities must be put on check to curb the common place extortion. We must guard our money as a nation from the lords of corruption.
The cost of living will only come down the day we will stamp out corruption from our nation, from our organisations, from our non-governmental organisations, from our systems, from our private sector and not the day we give our people a pay rise of 500%. This you can take to the bank and wait for the interest!
Onoka, a Masters student at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, is an anti-poverty crusader and currently finalising his thesis work in Pure Mathematics.
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