Deputy President William Ruto has called on teachers to be patient with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), as it looks for funds to pay the 50-60 percent salary increment recently awarded by the court.
Ruto was speaking on Friday, two days before the deadline given by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) calling for a nationwide strike if the salary increment is not effected.
The TSC requires Sh17 Billion shillings to pay the salary increment.
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The Deputy President says that the teachers should give the TSC time to engage with parliament on where the funds will be sourced.
The National Assembly is currenty on recess and it is unclear when the matter will be discussed.
KNUT's Wilson Sossion on Friday, however, said that special sittings should be convened before their Monday deadline.
KNUT's threat of a nationwide wide strike could affect the education sector significantly.
The strike scheduled for September will come as schools open for the third term.
Most affected will be students who are preparing to sit their KCSE and KCPE exams.
The ministry of education has been faulted for not anticipating the situation and planning for it.
Regardless, the DP wants teachers to forgo the strike, assuring them that the relevant stakeholders were working on meeting their demands.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Citizen TV, the DP also expressed concerns that the pay increment and strike could cause a ripple effect.
He stated that the country would be in trouble should all public servants demand that their salaries be matched to those of the teachers.
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Watch the interview by Citizen Tv here.
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