Court dismisses TSC appeal seeking to withhold teachers salaries

Industrial Court has declined to grant the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) orders stopping payment of teachers’ September salaries.

In a ruling made on Friday, Justice Jorum Abuodha said the ruling on the issue should be made by the Court of Appeal, since he had already ordered TSC to pay teachers’ salaries in September.

TSC had sought to appeal the decision made by the same court on September 25 prohibited victimisation of teachers while ordering teachers to resume duty, having stayed away from class since August 31.

The ruling prompted unions to call off the strike and resume duty in October 5, though TSC defied the order and denied teachers the pay.

Justice Aboudha’s ruling complicates an already contorted situation that has put TSC on crossroads over whether or not to remit the teachers’ September salaries.

Pressure is mounting on TSC to pay teachers, who were involved in the strike in September, their salaries with the latest calls coming from President Uhuru Kenyatta echoing a similar ruling made by the Court of Appeal late September.

Speaking after a meeting with officials from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), President Kenyatta called for an end to the standoff between teachers and TSC in order to normalise the education system.

The president further asked teachers’ unions to withdraw any pending cases in court while calling for negotiations between the unions and TSC to resolve the impasse.

In its media address on Thursday, KNUT said that it had no cases in court while stating that all the cases remaining were filed by TSC.

The officials led by union chair Mudzo Nzili and Secretary General Wilson Sossion dispelled reports of rifts in the union saying they are focused on improving the welfare of teachers.

Sossion welcomed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s intervention in helping to resolve the standoff between teachers and their employer TSC saying he is willing to support the resolution process.

The two leaders called on TSC to adhere to President Kenyatta’s directive and pay teachers’ September salaries and the union’s monthly deductions.

Speaking to the press later on, Sossion confirmed that he had not been invited to the meeting vowing to defy the resolutions made in the meeting saying he will proceed to the Supreme Court to appeal a Court of Appeal ruling quashing the 50 to 60 per cent salary increment made last week.

Among the resolutions of the meeting were that teachers’ withdraw any cases pending in court over their salary increment with the president ordering TSC to pay teachers their September salaries and remit unions’ monthly deductions.

Sossion said the union has been invited to a meeting with TSC on November 25, 2015 confirming that he will attend in order to find a way forward to the impasse that has stretched for over five months.

TSC and KNUT, together with Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) have been at loggerheads for months since the Employment and Labour Relations Court awarded teachers a 50 to 60 per cent salary increment in July this year, dating back to June 2013.