KUPPET officials and protesters Storm Matungulu Girls and eat teachers’ food

Godfrey Gwako

2 months ago

KUPPET officials and protesters Storm Matungulu Girls: KUPPET officials from the Machakos branch stormed Matungulu Girls’ High School. They raided the staffroom and ate food meant for teachers after finding it empty.

The officials suspected some teachers were defying the ongoing strike, prompting them to grab plates and help themselves.

A video of the chaotic scene circulated online, showing union members enjoying the food.

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Secretary general Musembi Katuku led the protests

Leading the protests were Secretary General Musembi Katuku, Chairman Bernard Warui, and Vice Chairperson Yvonne Musyoka. They led demonstrations across Kathiani, Kangundo, and Matungulu sub-counties.

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They urged parents to withdraw their children from schools, claiming students were unsafe due to the strike.

KUPPET officials conducted awareness campaigns, explaining the strike’s reasons to parents. They then advised them to keep their children away from public secondary schools until the government addressed teachers’ concerns.

Katuku stressed that all secondary school and college teachers were participating in the strike and called for parental support.

The protesters confronted a principal

The protests followed two earlier incidents where KUPPET officials stormed schools in Machakos Town sub-county. This included Machakos Girls High School, where they confronted the principal.

The union demands that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) confirm the 46,000 junior secondary school teachers as permanent and pensionable employees. They stated that this must be done before the strike ends.

Katuku pointed out a severe teacher shortage affecting junior secondary students. He warned of declining education quality if the 46,000 JSS teachers are not confirmed.

Third-party deductions

He also criticized the government’s failure to implement the second phase of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and to remit third-party deductions from teachers’ pay slips.

In response, KUPPET plans legal action and will continue striking until their demands are met.

Katuku also condemned the government’s refusal to allocate funds for teacher promotions, resulting in schools lacking principals and deputy principals.

Despite conducting promotion interviews, the lack of funding has stalled the process. These unresolved issues, Katuku noted, fuel the ongoing demonstrations.

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