Teachers in Yatta Sub-County on Tuesday took to the streets claiming that the government is ignoring their demands.
The teachers have vowed not to return to work unless the government pays them the 50-60% pay awarded to them and the arrears.
They asserted that the government was playing games with the teaching fraternity when it claimed that they had no money to pay teachers.
Addressing teachers at the Kiala Primary School in Yatta town on Tuesday, area Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General James Chinga declared war on the government saying that they should not under-estimate the wrath of the teachers.
He warned that teachers had the numbers to influence change if that was their only option. He said that teachers were ready to work with anyone who listened to their plight regardless of their political affiliations.
"Fellow teachers, the war has just began. There is no turning back now. Brace yourself for a long and tough journey ahead. Go home and start a sukumawiki or even a hawker's business for we will be in this till the end. I know they try intimidating you but you have to fight to your last breath for your rights," he said.
He asked teachers not to be shaken by threats from the Teachers' Service Commission (TSC) saying that they have been through such before. TSC has threatened disciplinary measures but teachers have dismissed them as inconsequential. Chinga asked the teachers not to sign any attendance register.
"Head teachers, file zero returns in those forms since no teacher is attending classes. As for the parents, please collect your children from school since no one is taking care of them there. Just leave them there at your own risk," he added.