Raila Odinga questions timing of TSC-teachers deal

Coalitions for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader Raila Odinga has questioned the timing of the Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA) signed between teachers’ unions and teachers’ employer Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

Speaking in Nyamira on Sunday, during the homecoming ceremony for Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire, one of the eight legislators who were detained last week over allegations of hate speech, Raila said the move was aimed at ‘bribing’ teachers into voting for Jubilee in the 2017 General Elections.

“After taking teachers round in circles for years, Jubilee has finally decided to give teachers a salary increment in a bid to convince them to vote for them in the next elections,” he said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta welcomed the signing of the CBA between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and teachers’ unions, terming it a historic move that will improve the country’s education sector by ending the longstanding standoff between the government and teachers.

Speaking at State House after a meeting with the TSC and Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) leadership, the President praised the agreement that covers the period 2013 – 2017, saying for the first time there is a platform on which future discussions and negotiations between the employees (unions) and the employer (TSC) will be held.

The CBA introduced, among other things, an alternative dispute resolution mechanism that seeks to end the perennial strikes that have dogged the education sector in the past.

Uhuru assured KNUT that the next CBA (2017-2021) would also be concluded in a manner that will ensure harmony.

Raila accused Jubilee of giving veterans government jobs instead of youth, contending that the allocation of government slots have been made a preserve of a few individuals in the country.

“Instead of giving jobs to the youth, Jubilee has focused on giving the retired leaders slots to head boards thus ensuring the youth languish in poverty.”

@benjaminwafula