Disband salaries body, urges Kuppet official

KUPPET has called for the disbandment of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission ahead of a looming teachers' strike. The union said the teachers will down their tools next month to protest the commission's failure to harmonise salaries for all civil servants. Kuppet national vice treasurer Ronald Tonui accused the commission of discriminating against teachers contrary to the spirit of the constitution.

He said the union is mobilising its members to participate in the strike to press for pending salary and allowances. He said the teachers also want the government to honour its pledge to pay commuter and responsibility allowances for the past five years as agreed with the union. Tonui said the agreement, which was signed between the government and the union on January 13, 2009 is yet to be honoured.

“ The Salaries and Remuneration Commission is a constitutional body that was put in place to harmonise wages and salaries for all civil servants, but it has become an irrelevant institution wasting public funds. It is toothless,” said Tonui. He was speaking to the press in Bomet yesterday.

He said the teachers have been forced to work under harsh condition for many years, adding that they will go on strike to push the government to honour the agreement. Tonui said they will marshal teachers to boycott supervising the national exams until their demands are met.