Kisii Governor James Ongwae has accused President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration of overlooking the teachers demands at the expense of learners.
He said he support the striking teachers and challenged the national government to act swiftly to ensure that teachers resume duty and save learners the agony they are going through.
Speaking on Thursday during a press conference in his office when the officials of Knut and Kuppet paid him a courtesy, Ongwae wondered why the national government was adamant on the issue.
He asked the central government to honor the court ruling that awarded the teachers the 50-60 per cent pay increase.
"In the context of the ongoing strike, I fully support teachers because I am aware they are underpaid yet everybody including the president himself passed through their hands. The government should honour the Supreme Court ruling and pay teachers the 50-60 percent," said the governor.
He joined other leaders calling for the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi to consider convening Parliament to discuss the ongoing teachers strike.
"The striking teachers have genuine concerns that the National Assembly must discuss urgently. The Speaker should recall MPs to discuss and have a supplementary budget for the teachers," suggested Ongwae.
He claimed that during his tenure as the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) secretary, he did not witness labour conflicts with teachers because he embraced dialogue with the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).
The unions officials urged Ongwae to persuade the National Assembly to support them in the war against discrimination on payment.
Reading a joint statement for Kuppet and Knut, Kisii County secretary general for Kuppet Ben Nyaundi urged Ongwae to communicate to his counterparts in other counties to support teachers to have their pay rise ruling honoured.
"We have come to your office to seek your indulgence in the ongoing strike. Because you served in the TSC for a long time, we ask you to advise the current officials on matters related to what we are going through," said Nyaundi.