Homabay Town Member of Parliament Peter Kaluma on Saturday sounded the alarm over what is widely perceived to be biased recruitment of tutors by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The legislator alleged that teachers from Mt Kenya secure jobs almost immediately after completing school and questioned why the situation is different for other regions.
He further claimed that teachers from Luo Nyanza and Ukambani get a raw deal in TSC recruitment cycles.
Kaluma further stated that it was wrong to employ and deploy teachers from areas perceived to be favourable and sending them to postings where teachers remain unemployed.
He further claimed that the TSC recruitment has been hijacked by politicians.
"The teachers-recruitment exercise has been taken over by UDA politicians leaving TSC as bystanders in its core function," he complained.
The MP, therefore, called for fair recruitment to represent the face of Kenya.
"Going forward, teachers should be employed on a first-to-graduate, first-to-be-employed basis. And with the removal of the “delocalisation” policy, let teachers teach in their home areas, he stated.
He also suggested that an audit should be conducted on all 60,000 teachers who have been recruited by the current government.
According to data from TSC presented before the National Assembly Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Cohesion in March, Kalenjins and Kikuyu have the highest number of registered teachers.
In the report, five ethnic communities Kalenjins (59,538), Kikuyus (59,010), Luhyas (52,882), Luos (40,657), and Kambas (39,807) constituted the largest chunk of teachers employed by TSC at the time.
TSC CEO Nancy Macharia explained that uneven distribution was due to the constant prodding by Members of Parliament.
"The commission wanted to employ and deploy according to the needs of regions but the committee rejected that model and said teachers should be shared equally to all counties and our hands were tied," Macharia complained.
