Parliament will not reconvene to discuss teachers pay Muturi

Speaker Justin Muturi has dismissed calls by some Members of Parliament for the National Assembly to reconvene and discuss the issue of teachers’ pay.

Muturi said that the National Assembly is not an appellate court above the Supreme Court and thus cannot discuss a matter that has been disposed with by the highest court in the land.

He emphasised that the calls are misplaced and that it is the mandate of the majority and minority leaders of the National Assembly to rule on the matter.

Justin Muturi further faulted politicisation the issue surrounding the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and teachers over salary increment, saying that sanity and sobriety should be the guiding principles in resolving the issue.

He said recent comments by President Uhuru Kenyatta were based on the state of the economy but called on further engagements to resolve the standoff.

The Speaker said teachers’ perennial wage disputes are complex, adding that a lasting solution must be found as soon as possible.

Muturi was speaking at Mbeere North Constituency in Embu County during a send-off party for retiring Senior Education Officer Jervasio Kothe who has served the government for over thirty years.

Other leaders in attendance included area MP Muriuki Njagagua and his Runyenjes counterpart Cecily Mbarire of Runyenjes.

Several MPs, among them Homa Bay Women Representative Gladys Wanga, had called for the reconvention of Parliament to discuss the issue of teachers pay and resolve the impasse that has paralysed learning in public schools for two weeks.

The Supreme Court will on Tuesday rule on the matter after TSC filed a petition seeking revocation of an earlier ruling by the same court calling for a stay on Court of Appeal and Employment and Labour Relations Court to increase teachers’ salaries by 50 to 60 per cent.

Report by Peter Gachanja