KNUT’s defiance came immediately after the Industrial Court suspended contempt charges against union officials to give them time to call off the strike. The court warned that the charges would stand reinstated by Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters at the union’s headquarters, KNUT Second Vice-National Chairman Wycliffe Omucheyi stated that they will not be cowed by threats from the government to call off the strike which is in its third week.
“In the middle of negotiations, you saw us being served with notices of contempt of court. This is a clear demonstration that the government is bent on using all means to destroy the goodwill and the position of the Kenyan teachers. We want to state very categorically that the Kenyan teacher will not relent. We shall fight on,” he said.
He pointed out that the order to call off the strike within 24 hours was not tenable and will only happen if and when the National Executive Council deliberates on the Sh17 billion offer given to them.
Lady Justice Linnet Ndolo suspended the contempt case after it emerged that the contempt proceedings started without KNUT being served with the charges.
“The application for contempt proceedings filed on July 2, 2013 is hereby withdrawn by consent. The parties are directed to appear before this court on Wednesday 10 July 2013 at 9am for further directions,” Justice Ndolo ruled.
The union had been given time to comply with the order to end the strike even as negotiations continued between them and the Teachers Service Commission.
Omucheyi who spoke on behalf of the union’s Acting Secretary General Mudzo Nzili indicated that the Sh17 billion pay package offered by the government “is too little.”
“We demanded a commuter allowance of 50 percent. The government is offering 30 percent in three phases. No Kenyan teacher is ready to take the phases. Once bitten, twice shy. We remember in 1997 we negotiated very well and this is the same ghost that is haunting us today. We want to tell the government that the Kenyan teachers are not going to take that lying down,” he explained.
The union’s First Vice-National Chairman Samson Kaguma who spoke on behalf of the National Chairman Wilson Sossion urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) not to resort to underhand tactics during the negotiations.
“We are under pressure now from our teachers to soldier on. The government is taking us in circles; taking us to court, telling us to go for negotiations and when we get there, we find that they have swords hidden under the table,” he said. “We have decided to tell our teachers to intensify the fight and negotiations now all over.”
The officials spoke after Sossion and Nzili appeared before Justice Ndolo who had summoned them after they defied an earlier order to call off the strike.
The Public Service Trade Unions of Kenya (PUSETU) gave KNUT its support, with General Secretary Charles Mukhwaya stating that the spirit of the union will not be killed.
“When you haul the leadership to court, you are not solving the problem. You are hardening the teachers’ resolve. You have seen it. My brothers Sossion and Nzili are not here but the war still continues because in this union, you can choose to exterminate the leadership, another leadership come up again,” Mukhwaya said.
Following KNUT’s disregard of the court order, officials could pay fines of up to Sh20 million with striking teachers losing Sh10,000 from their salaries.
The union has 270,000 members countrywide and has received some additional members who defected from the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers who called off their strike after reaching an agreement with the government.
Credit: Capital News
