Garissa Kuppet teachers demand for security allowance

Garissa unionists have asked the government to treat teachers as a special case, considering the difficult working environment that they work under.

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers want a special security risk allowance paid to tutors working in insecurity prone areas, as well as an enhanced medical cover.

Kuppet members held peaceful demonstrations on Thursday.

Led by branch executive secretary Melchizedek Inguza, they said teachers working in the region are put in harm’s way in the line of duty.

“It is an open secret that teachers working in this part of the country endanger their lives. The insecurity challenges in Garissa and the region at large are well documented. So we are telling the government that time has come to provide tutors working here a special security risk allowance. It is long overdue,” Inguza told the press at Kuppet’s offices.

Teachers cannot deliver well if they do not feel safe in the school, he said, while calling for enhanced security especially in areas that are prone to attacks.

It was “extremely disheartening that when an unfortunate incident happens” it was difficult to  rush their members to hospital as well as to access the medical services because the options offered by the cover are limited.

“We are also asking the government for an enhanced medical cover to take care of issues like ambulances for teachers who need to be referred to other hospitals,” Inguza said.

“We do not want to see our teachers dying on the road while being taken to hospitals. We want to have a medical cover that can enable us to use ambulances in case of emergencies.”

Additionally, the locations of consultation offices make it difficult for teachers to get services on time.

“Secondly, the consultants who are supposed to be here in Garissa are in Mombasa or Nairobi. Expert consultations are not available here and so we are facing difficulties to get their services since we are being forced to travel at our own costs to access their services,” he added.

The region has witnessed insecurity related challenges orchestrated by al Shabaab militants.

Teachers bear the brunt of the attacks, with the most notable being in 2014, when a bus ferrying tutors to Nairobi for December holidays was sprayed with bullets, killing 28 on the spot.

This has led to mass exodus of staff from the region, forcing the Teachers Service Commission to rehire retired tutors on contract to fill in the gap.

Concerning the court order directing teachers to go back to class, the executive secretary was adamant that they would not back down until their demands are met.

“The court order is supposed to be served to one Titus Misori who is our national secretary general. He is supposed to read, interpret it and give us directions,” he said.

“Our President is known for not obeying court orders and we want to tell him that a fish rots from the head. If he does not obey court orders, we will follow suit,” he added.

by STEPHEN ASTARIKO