Employment and labour relations Justice Nelson Abuodha who dismissed Teachers Service Commission application seeking to stop payment of teachers’ September salaries.
BY SAMALFAN.
Teachers service commission (TSC) suffered a major blow on Friday after the Employment and labour relations court dismissed their application.
Justice Aboudha declined to grant the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) orders stopping payment of teachers’ September salaries.
In a ruling made on Friday, Justice Nelson Abuodha said the ruling on the issue should be made by the Court of Appeal, since he had already ordered TSC to pay teachers’ salaries in September.
The two teacher’s umbrella body’s argued before the court that their activities were crippled after TSC declined to remit members’ contributions.
TSC attempted to make another oral application to be granted 30 days to react to the ruling made in the Employment and labour relations court, which Abuodha also dismissed and ordered the immediate payment of the salaries.
TSC had sought to appeal the decision made by the same court on September 25 prohibited victimization of teachers and ordered teachers to resume duty, having stayed away from class since August 31.
The ruling prompted unions to call off the strike and resume duty in October 5, though TSC defied the order and denied teachers the pay.
Justice Aboudha’s ruling complicates an already contorted situation that has put TSC on crossroads over whether or not to remit the teachers’ September salaries.
Pressure is mounting on TSC to pay teachers, who were involved in the strike in September, their salaries with the latest calls coming from President Uhuru Kenyatta echoing a similar ruling made by the Court of Appeal late September.
Speaking after a meeting with officials from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), President Kenyatta called for an end to the standoff between teachers and TSC in order to normalize the education system.
The president further asked teachers’ unions to withdraw any pending cases in court while calling for negotiations between the unions and TSC to resolve the impasse.
On October 16, TSC challenged a court order directing it to pay September salaries to teachers who had participated in the strike.
In the application, TSC said Justice Abuodha erred in law when he issued orders that teachers who went on strike should not be penalized.
President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the Teachers Service Commission to pay teachers their September salaries.
Uhuru also directed that all cases filed in court be withdrawn and that the TSC and the unions negotiate and sign a CBA agreement within a month. Sossion has said he was not aware of the State House meeting.
