Sharp divisions emerged on the first day of the primary school head teachers conference in Mombasa yesterday. The teachers differed on monthly deductions by Kenya Primary School Headteachers Association (Kepsha) and a planned nationwide teachers strike. The association’s national chairman, Shem Ndolo was ejected from the meeting by angry teachers who protested against the monthly deductions and accused him of opposing a planned strike.
It was a chaotic start to the week-long annual conference bringing together more than 10,000 primary school heads at the Sheikh Zayed Welfare Centre in Mombasa County. The charged teachers protested the deduction of Sh500 per month from their salaries as administrative costs to run Kepsha. They questioned of another Sh6,000 to attend the conference despite paying the monthly contributions.
The teachers also accused Ndolo of being compromised by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to oppose a strike called by Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) on September 1 to protest delocalisation of teachers in the country. The fracas started immediately Ndolo completed reading his speech in which he asked the government to allocate more cash to schools. But when Ndolo invited one of the event’s sponsor to the podium, the members booed and heckled him, insisting they had some problems about his leadership that they wanted addressed. Ndolo invited more ire when he told the protesters to stop “nonsense”, sparking an uproar in the hall.
The angry teachers splashed water on the podium as they forced Ndolo out accusing him of betrayal. With the disruption escalating, officials escorted the chairman out of the podium as the association vice chairman, Nicholas Gathemia, took charge of proceedings. Planned protests Addressing the press from another room later, Ndolo said the protest was well planned to frustrate him by his detractors. “I strongly believe the fracas was planned by some people who incited the teachers to turn against me. I cannot resign because of these lies being peddled against me. Somebody must have poisoned their minds. This is a storm in a tea cup,” Ndolo said. Ndolo said he had up to December this year to retire and would remain in charge until then. “This conference does not elect me. I am elected by four delegates from each region,” he said. He denied being compromised by TSC to oppose a strike called by Knut, noting that he always sits with the employer to discuss issues beneficial to members. He defended the association from the Sh500 deduction saying that teachers approved this in a conference in the same venue last year. Before then, he said, head teachers were contributing Sh100 per month. “The members approved the deduction of Sh400 last year making the total contribution to Sh500. I wonder why the head teachers are jittery now,” he said.
The association’s treasurer, Josephat Otiende, also came under pressure from the teachers as he maintained that the deduction of the Sh500 was effected in March after their endorsement last year. “You are the ones who approved the deduction of Sh500 to help run the regions and the head office. If you do not like this then you are free to say so,” Otiende said. Mr Gathemia pledged to respond to the head teachers’ today morning before the scheduled official opening of the meeting by President Uhuru Kenyatta. “I am going to sit down with my team and come up with a report on the issues you have raised,” Gathemia said. The head teachers claimed that they tried to petition the association to stop the controversial deduction in vain. They also accused their chairman of taking a position on looming teachers’ strike before seeking the views of the association members. “Ndolo cannot unilaterally oppose the strike. He must seek our views before making a stand,” said Akufa Akimalia. Exploitation claims A head teacher from Bungoma county said the association was exploiting them by deducting Sh500 from their salaries per month and asking them to pay Sh6,000 each to attend the conference. “We are burdened by the payments. We want the chairman to step aside and the deputy to take over,” said Nashon Iwambwa. Mr Luther Cheruiyot from Seretut Primary School in Kericho claimed the association was misusing their cash and called for an audit.
Courtsey of The Standard