CORD holds rally in support of teachers strike

CORD leaders were on Wednesday morning expected to hold a rally at Uhuru Park in Nairobi to pressurise the government to pay teachers the 50-60 per cent pay rise.

The rally is expected to be attended by CORD Co-Principals Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka together with other opposition leaders.

The opposition leaders have said their rally is being held in solidarity with the striking teachers who have refused to call off their strike until their pay hike demands are implemented.

The impasse over the teachers’ pay dispute continues after the Court of Appeal adjourned the Teacher’s Service Commission (TSC) suit to Tuesday, 29^th September 2015.

The court granted the one-week adjournment after teachers, through their lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, asked for time to consider whether they will take part in the case.

The Court of Appeal had on Tuesday given directions that applications from both the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and TSC be merged, a move that Abdullahi strongly opposed.

Abdullahi argued that consolidating the two matters would be going against teachers’ rights.

He went on to express fears that the judges’ directions might influence the case and applied that the matter be heard by a bench comprising five to seven judges.

Following Abdulahi’s application, the court said that they would refer the matter to Chief Justice Willy Mutunga asking him to decide on whether a five-judge-bench will rule on the case.

TSC’s lawyer, Fred Ngatia, claimed that the adjournment application was a delay tactic that would serve to plunge the education sector into further chaos.

Ngatia insisted that the judges either conclude the case or give stay orders till the determination of the matter.

TSC took to court to appeal Judge Nduma Nderi’s ruling that had awarded teachers a 50 – 60 per cent pay rise, saying that they could not afford the pay perks.

Teacher’s downed their tools at the beginning of September over the pay dispute and learning has been paralysed in all public institutions across the county for the past three weeks.

On Friday, the Ministry of Education ordered the closure of both public and private schools, but this was challenged in court by owners of private institutions.

In the directive, the state body said that only Standard Eight and Form Four students would be allowed to stay in school.

The closure of private schools was, however, halted when High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi gave stay orders until the case challenging the directive is heard and determined.