Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Chairperson Sarah Serem has threatened to quit over the teachers pay dispute.
In a stakeholders meeting on Tuesday at the Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi, Serem said that she would step down if the Government decided to ignore her team's recommendations against the teachers' 50-60 per cent pay rise.
Serem emphasized the fact that it was illogical to increase the salary of those in public service. “What we are doing is for the good of the country and we will have failed Kenyans if the increment is effected,” she said.
The head of the Salary Commission went ahead to disregard the Parliament motion filed on Monday by Budalangi legislator Ababu Namwamba that was seeking to reduce the salaries of senior state officers by 50 per cent.
In her speech, Serem faulted Namwamba, saying the move would not be effective adding that reducing the salaries of state officials would not sustain the teachers' 50-60 per cent pay increment.
She also defended the senior state officers' salaries claiming that the figures were arrived at after a job assessment by the commission.
Serem's sentiments come after the President's address to the nation that cautioned against considering teachers' demands, arguing that VAT would have to be increased from 16 to 22 per cent. Uhuru Kenyatta also added that if the educators were awarded the improved salaries the wage bill would rise to 61 percent .
Kenya National Union Of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion differed strongly insisting that the strike would continue until the new salaries are reflected in teachers' bank accounts. Sossion further criticised Kenyatta's address saying the President relayed incorrect facts about the salary of teachers.
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