As nation we have found ourselves in an awkward state following the ruling by the industrial court and subsequent assertion by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court that teachers’ in the public sector get a salary raise in the range of 50-60 % pegged on their basic salary.
As a law abiding nation, each one of us expects the Jubilee government to honour the court order; look for at least Ksh17 billion annually, pay the teachers and save the country the massive industrial unrest that is bound to cripple the economy.
I have nothing ill against our teachers owing to the work they’ve done to all of us and the good work they continue to do in molding our children into responsible citizens. I feel they should be given what is due to them.
On breaking his silence on the stalemate between the Teachers Service Commission and the teachers’ unions, President Uhuru Kenyatta went on record and declared that raising an additional budgetary Ksh17 billion annually to carter for the teachers’ pay rise demand is unsustainable.
Personally, I do believe that giving pay rises is not the cure for a struggling economy. Neither is it the medicine for our runaway financial needs nor is it the recommended way to bridge the widening gap between the rich and the poor. It is a sure way of creating a soft spot for inflation and thus a catalyst for economic stagnation.
The president may well be aware of this, no wonder his much criticised statement!
All of us are at home with the fact that the high cost of living for our people is the problem and not poor remuneration! It is this high cost that devalues our shilling necessitating the constant agitation for high pay. On this ground, I strongly feel that giving pay rises is unsustainable.
Though raising Ksh 17 billion may be unsustainable, but clamping down corruption is sustainable; safeguarding our resources from the lords and high priests of corruption is sustainable! Raising Ksh 17 billion may be unsustainable, neither is silence by the executive when county governments extravagantly splash taxpayers’ money on non-priority initiatives!
Giving 50-60% raise may be unsustainable but is failing to tax the salaries of legislators sustainable? Is the high cost of living coupled with high taxation rates sustainable? Is raising the salaries of over 2,526 MCAs sustainable?
As a nation, we need to sober up, rethink our legal policy framework and embark only on policies and practices that will lower the cost of living for all Kenyans. This is the way out of this maze.
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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