“Teachers are low in morale and feel threatened. Warning letters are becoming the norm of the day. You can take a cow to the river but you can’t force it into drinking water,” he further added.
Matiang’i further warned that TSC was out to kill the giant union.
“We had more than 100,000 members but the numbers have gone down due to intimidation by our employer. KNUT will not die and I want to ask President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene,” he told jubilant members.
Last week, ODM party leader Raila Odinga asked the Teachers Service Commission and the teacher’s umbrella Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) to find the solution to their stalemate.
“As of today, membership of Knut has shrunk from a high of 187,000 to 23,000. Its income has dwindled from Sh144 million to Sh15 million against a salary portfolio of Sh80 million for over 600 workers spread across the country,” Raila said.
He said that teachers are not happy with the current threats from their employer, who is about to bring to its knees the movement built from the scratch since 1957.
Siaya Senator James Orengo also weighed in on the issue and warned against efforts to kill the KNUT.
Speaking in Vihiga during the burial of Mama Hannah Mudavadi said, “We fought for TSC to defend and fight for teachers. The TSC is killing KNUT instead of defending it. Mr President save the teachers from TSC.”