KENYA National Union of Teachers executive member at the Coast Dan Aloo has asked Parliament to speed up the motion to pay teachers Sh17 billion set aside by Treasury.

Aloo said Parliament should endorse the supplementary budget fast enough so that teachers receive their payments by January 31.

The supplementary budget presented in Parliament by Finance minister Njeru Githae on Wednesday seeks approval of Sh61.9 billion from the consolidated fund to finance government operations and will be debated next Tuesday.

Speaking to the Star, he said a consensus was reached that they should be paid Sh29 billion during the teachers' strike but the amount was decreased to Sh17 billion.

"We want Parliament to endorse the teachers' supplementary budget, we have no quarrel with Treasury for reducing the amount," he said.

He added that teachers have been blackmailed by the government's false promises and warned that this time round they want the money as soon as the budget is passed in Parliament.

"It's unfortunate that teachers have been asking for this money since 1997, we will not take this as a joke anymore," he warned.