The Kenya National Union of Teachers Borabu branch secretary Peter Mounde has accused the Ministry of Education and TSC of transferring and sacking teachers in schools affected by fires.
Addressing journalists after visiting St Andrew Kaggwa Boys Boarding Primary School where fire gutted a dormitory on Monday evening, Mounde called on the government to investigate the causes of the fires instead of rushing to sacking and interdicting school heads and other education officials.
He said the fires which have now become a norm in Gusii region and the country at large, should be declared a national disaster, and addressed conclusively with the urgency and seriousness they deserves.
He urged the ministry, the government and other stakeholders to join hands in curbing the now trend.
"We as Knut don't support the government's move to transfer and sack teachers and education officials whose schools have been hit by student arson. What the government should do instead is to involve all the stakeholders in curbing this rising trend," said Mounde.
He, however, blamed the recent cases of school fires on politicians who he said have 'radicalised' students by telling teachers to always listen to their students.
"I can again link the recent student arson in our schools to politicians who have been heard in various platforms telling teachers to listen to the students pleas. We cannot allow our students to rule teachers because some demands may be way far beyond our reach. We need to involve all stakeholders in the sector to avert such ugly incidents in the future," added Mounde.
Similar utterances were echoed by the Kuppet national secretary Mr Akelo Misori on Tuesday at a national executive meeting in Nairobi where they agreed that all sacked teachers must be reinstated.
The Knut official also rubbished claims in sections of the media that linked the fire at Kaggwa to pupils, and urged the public to ignore them.
He said at the time of the incident, all the pupils were in the dining hall taking super.