The Court of Appeal has finally made a ruling on the controversial 50-60 per cent teachers' salary increment.
The five-Judge bench, on Friday, annulled the pay rise, that caused a grievous dispute between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the teachers' unions, citing various reasons.
In its judgement, the court declared that the pay rise claimed by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) was unconstitutional, as at the time of the proposal their employer had not yet consulted the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) as required by the law.
According to the Judges, TSC proposed the 50-60 per cent pay rise before seeking advice from SRC, but when they did, they agreed that it was not sustainable to raise the tutors' basic salary.
The Judges further dismissed a previous ruling by the Employment and Labour Relations court that awarded the teachers the 50-60 per cent pay hike, citing that the decision was null and void as the Judge was not within the jurisdiction.
The Court of Appeal added that TSC would be on the offence, if it followed the orders by Judge Nelson Abuodha as it would be against the law.
KNUT's lawyer Paul Muite, however, said that they would appeal the matter to the Supreme court, which would have the final say on the unending battle between teachers and the TSC.
The Friday ruling comes as the teachers remain uncertain on whether they will receive their September salaries, which their employer denied them.
On Thursday, TSC vowed that it would not release the September salaries since the teachers had downed their tools.
Read Also: Why Teachers Might Never Get the September Salary
Teachers have been in a protracted battle with their employer over a pay increment, a dispute that saw learning paralysed for over a month, before the Court intervened ordering the teachers to call-off the strike for 90 days.
