Nairobi — Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi on Thursday said the government will not pay teachers their July salaries. The teachers who recently returned to work after a three-week strike have vowed to go back on strike from Tuesday after the government said that it would not pay them, after they failed to work for the minimum 21 days required for one to earn a salary.

Kambi says the fresh strike called by the teachers is illegal. "As a ministry, we delivered on our promise to pay the teachers their dues for June and allowances they demanded but we didn't agree to pay them in the month of July and the labour laws which we abide by, demand that one works at least 21 days in a month for them to earn a salary."

Kambi said teachers should instead focus on teaching students and not on money so that they can catch up on lost time. He added that plans have been put up for a review programme where the Labour Ministry together with the Ministry of Education will gauge the teachers. "We have plans to start reviewing the teacher's performance as some of the teachers do not even show up to classrooms yet they still demand payment paid and this has forced us to roll out a programme where we check to see if their teaching is effective."

Kambi asks the teachers to abide by labour laws and work with the ministry as they work towards creating a better Kenya. He asked the teachers to seek forgiveness from the public for the agony their strike caused.

JEMIMAH WANGUI

Jemimah Wangui is a Daystar University graduate with a passion for features stories. She has been in writing for four years and believes that media is a great channel to communicate. She considers that she is the change that she wants to see and thus puts her best foot forward as she works at Capital FM to ensure that she leaves a legacy to be emulated.