ODM leader Raila Odinga has slammed the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for allegedly sabotaging the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT).
Through a statement yesterday while celebrating his 76th birthday, the former Prime Minister stated that TSC has disabled the union and is now aiming at killing it completely.
Odinga further questioned the cause of the disagreement between TSC and KNUT adding the feud is destroying labor relations that have taken years to build.
“The teachers may have been subdued and gone silent as a monumental movement they built from scratch since 1957, and which they took pride in, is brought to its knees. But they are certainly not happy,” he said.
Read: KNUT Boss Sossion Slams TSC Over Circular Discouraging Teachers From Engaging In Politics
The statement further read, “A dispute between the Teachers Service Commission and the Kenya National Union of Teachers has increasingly degenerated into a major misunderstanding that is threatening to kill an organization long seen as the face of organized labor in Kenya.”
According to Odinga, the feud is affecting the union that needs at least Sh80 million to salary its employees spread across the country.
Kenya will pay dearly if KNUT is killed. pic.twitter.com/fqTDjduyzo
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) January 7, 2021
Earlier in November, KNUT Secretary-General Wilson Sossion accused TSC of using attacks aimed to cripple the union.
Through a letter dated November 9, 2020, the SG intimated that his office had raised a number of concerns to the Labour CS Simon Chelugui’s office yet none of them had been addressed.
Read Also: Sossion Accuses TSC of Instigating Attacks Aimed at Crippling KNUT
Sossion further claimed that the TSC was on a mission to cripple the operations of KNUT by attacking the check-off systems.
For instance, Sossion said the check-off system was withdrawn for the months of July, August and December 2019. Ideally, he intimated that TSC had been offloading KNUT members massively contrary to the provisions of section 48 of the Labour and Relations Act.
“All these matters have remained unresolved and your office has gone quiet about it whereas the TSC has continued to cripple the operations of Knut by attacking the check-off system, hence systematically, gradually diminishing the resources of the union,” Sossion said.
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