Two teachers from Matutu PAG Secondary School suspended from service will have the Masaba Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) branch defend them in court.
The union announced its dissatisfaction over the suspension and its plan to challenge the decision by the ministry in court. The teachers, Eliud Nyagaka and his counterpart Solomon Ondimu, were dismissed for allegedly skipping lessons.
Nyagaka and Ondmu were suspended for desertion of duty by the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) after school Principal James Matena called for their dismissal.
Speaking on Sunday at Nyakongo High School, branch Secretary General James Oteki said the branch was keen to protect its members. He vowed to file a case at Kisii High Court on Monday to compel TSC to revoke the suspension.
“Our members must be treated with dignity by the employer. Whenever an allegation comes up, thorough investigations ought to be done not just waking up from nowhere and dismissing people. We have secured legal services and we want TSC to respect our members,” he said.
According to him, the teachers in question had differed with the principal over denomination allegiance making them violate the idea of teaching on Saturdays.
“In the first place, the government doesn’t encourage teaching on weekends so it’s really sad that they were dismissed after being faithful to their denomination. We don’t want to engage into unnecessary exchanges yet we have courts around,” he added.
The two were served with letters of suspension from the service waiting for investigations early in July with the commission showing little efforts to start hearing something that has angered the teacher’s union.
However, Matena dismissed the application and accused the teachers of ‘neglecting duty’.