Oliver Musembi and Mathew Ndung’u @PeopleDailyKe
Operations in public universities were yesterday paralysed for the second day running as the lecturers’ strike began to take its toll.
At the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat) services were grounded after more than 2,000 workers downed their tools.
The industrial action called to demand the release of Sh10 billion negotiated pay package puts the fate of newly admitted students in jeopardy.
Addressing the striking workers, Kenya Universities Staff Union Jkuat chapter secretary Nickson Chege criticised Education Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i, for misleading the public that the money has been released.
Chege accompanied by Kenya University Staff Union (Kusu) national treasurer James Makori and Chapter treasurer Wilfred Kinundu, said they will not relent until the government pays the Sh10 billion salary increment agreed in the 2013/17 Collective Bargaining Agreement signed by both parties at the beginning of this year.
“The government is yet to honour its part of the deal which was to be implemented by June 30, which has already lapsed without anyone receiving a single cent,” he said.
“Contrary to claims from the government that part of the money has been wired to our accounts, nobody has received anything as of now,” he added.
Makori accused the government of violating the agreement by not honouring their part of the bargain, which he said, amounts to wasting students’ time.
“The ministry has decided to dishonor our agreement. Until they make that commitment in writing, what we see in the press are just allegations,” he said. He accused some senior ministry officials of sabotaging President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration by reneging on such agreements “to make the government look bad.”
“We suspect that somebody somewhere is sabotaging the government and urge the President to use his intelligence to investigate who between those managing the Ministry of Education and that of Treasury is sabotaging his government,” he said.
In Mombasa, teaching and non-teaching staff at the Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) joined their colleagues in street protests to push for full implementation of the deal.
Kenya University Staff Union (Kusu) Mombasa chapter secretary John Ogwang, said they would only go back to work after the CBA was agreed upon, signed and deposited in a court of law.
The post Give us proof of released cash, striking dons to CS appeared first on Mediamax Network Limited.