DEPUTY President William Ruto yesterday told off former Prime Minister Raila Odinga over his demand that the government drop the laptop project and divert the money to paying teachers.
Teachers have been on strike for eight days demanding allowances that they say they agreed on with government in 1997. The government has refused to pay the allowances and declared the strike illegal.
On Sunday Raila told the Jubilee government to scrap the laptops and use the Sh53 billion to pay the striking teachers.
"We have in the medium term allocated a total of Sh53.2 billion for deployment of 1.35 million laptops to class one pupils, development of digital content, and building capacity of teachers and rolling out computer laboratory for class 4 to class 8 in all schools throughout the country. This translates to Sh17.4 billion each financial year," said Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich in his budget speech last month.
“For avoidance of doubt, the government is determined to see this project succeed. Our children deserve the ICT knowledge,” said Ruto, without directly referring to Raila.
Ruto was addressing a press media conference in his office yesterday.
“We have only allocated sh 15 billion to the project and that is in the budget which is a public document," said Ruto.
The DP said the government will also spend heavily to provide electricity in rural areas, buy projectors and train teachers.
“We will digitize all learning process for class one and two before 2013. In addition to that we will digitize all land transactions. Once this project is complete, we will have increased our venues by about 40 percent,” added Ruto.
Ruto, flanked by Labour secretary Kazungu Kambi and Education secretary Jacob Kaimenyi, asked teachers to respect a court order requiring them to resume work this morning and to then resume negotiations with government.
“It is a duty of every Kenyan to respect the law. KNUT must respect the court ruling. Otherwise we will have anarchy,” said Ruto.
Yesterday morning Justice Linet Ndolo of the Industrial Court ruled that teachers were illegally on strike and should report back to school this morning.
The court asked the teachers also to negotiate with TSC in good faith directed Labour secretary Kazungu Kambi to chair the talks between the TSC, the Kenya National Union of Teachers and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers.
But Knut has insisted that the strike will go on until the government gives out the Sh47 billion demanded by teachers. The union also asked government to pay Sh30 billion to pensionable teachers.
Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai also asked teachers to obey the Industrial Court order.
"The Attorney General would wish to advise the leaders of the teachers unions, the individual teachers themselves and the general public that the disobedience of court orders - contempt of court - is a grave offense under Kenyan law punishable by both a jail term and the imposition of a monetary penalty," Githu said in a statement.
"It is totally unacceptable that litigants before any court or tribunal can choose what orders to obey and which ones not to obey," Githu said.
Justice Ndolo warned that the parties should not discuss the dispute outside the negotiating table and details of a deal should be brought to her by Monday, July 15.
Despite the call for harmony, Knut Acting Secretary General Mudzo Nzili decried the government's legal action as an attack on their “physical and intellectual rights.”
“We have our rights under Article 23 of the constitution. There are no subordinate or superior rights,” Nzili said.
He said Knut was fighting for teachers rights, and does not belong to any political grouping.
Knut chairman Wilson Sossion said government cannot pay three-quarters of the agreement and then declare the balance illegal.
“This government is hiding behind the Office of the Attorney General to plunge the education sector into chaos,” Sossion said.
Meanwhile activist Okiya Omtata was in court where he obtained a court order stopping the negotiations. He told the court that TSC is not properly constituted so it cannot negotiate with teachers.
The commission is currently made up of one commissioner out of possible nine commissioners. Omtata named the AG, Secretary to the TSC, Principal Secretary for Education and Secretary to the Cabinet as first, second, third and fourth respondents.
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