President Uhuru Kenyatta has been told to stop double standards and pay teachers the 50-60 per cent salary increase awarded by the court.
Nyakach Central Ward MCA Elijah Omondi said it was the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) that took the teachers union to court over the salary increase and lost the case, hence the need for government to pay teachers.
Omondi said Uhuru should honour the Supreme Court ruling that the same way Cord coalition obeyed the 2013 election petition that was ruled in his favour.
He said the Jubilee government is not genuine on the salary increment because they thought the Supreme Court would rule in their favour.
Speaking to the press on Monday in Kisumu Town, Omondi blamed the government for the ongoing nationwide strike saying court orders must be obeyed.
“We are wondering why the government is punishing innocent Kenyans by declining to pay teachers. Teachers have committed no crime, they are simply pushing for what is rightly theirs,” he added.
He faulted the President over his ‘can’t pay, won’t pay’ remarks and challenged him to respect the plight of teachers.
“Uhuru cannot cheat Kenyans that the government has no money. We are aware the teachers strike is caused by the government and not unions,” he said.
Omondi said teachers must be paid before going back to class. He said the most affected people are children and parents who had already paid school fees yet they are not getting the value of their money.
The MCA told the government to divert the standard gauge railway funds to pay teachers. Omondi said the SGR projects should be put on hold and the money used to pay teachers.
He also called upon county governments to engage the national government over the strike standoff.
“I am urging all the MCAs across the country to undertake their representative role and push government to pay teachers,” Omondi said.
This comes even as Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) asked teachers to keep off classrooms until the government pays them.