More than sixty teachers from Kisii and Nyamira counties have unanimously agreed to boycott going back to North-Eastern after twenty two of their colleagues were brutally murdered by suspected Al-shaabab militants of Saturday.
Led by their Secretary general Raphael Kerauni on Tuesday at Kisii town, the affected teachers have asked KNUT and KUPPET leadership to facilitate their transfers from the region they described as “ insecure and perilous” besides being economically harsh.
“We have convened here today to reiterate what Wilson Sossion said. We cannot go back to North Eastern due to deteriorating security. Our colleagues were butchered mercilessly and we would have been casualties were it that we prolonged our stay there,” said Kerauni.
Kerauni wondered why Teachers Service Commission has persistently declined to transfer teachers who have attained the requirements after serving more than five years.
“TSC has always ignored our pleas for a long time. Some of us have automatically qualified for a transfer but they still want us to serve there. We are always woken up by gun fire and it has become a norm in Mandera, Garrissa and Wajir,” added Kerauni.
They faulted security personnel on what they referred to “laxity and non-commitment” in the way they handle matters pertaining security.
According to Isaih Mwebi, a secondary school teacher at Takaba Secondary school, the number of security officers in the region is below threshold and cannot meet demands of residents.
“Policemen are few in Mandera and cannot serve all. I plead with the government to increase their number. Of course we will protest any move of compelling us to return to the war torn region”, said Mwebi.
However, the affected teachers have already got a strong backing from the two Unions mandated to defend their plight. KUPPET led Chairman Amboko Milemba echoed his counterpart Wilson Sossion by insisting that no teacher from ‘down Kenya’ will report to North-Eastern when schools reopen on January.