State faults Sh17bn award to teachers

What you need to know:

  • The Attorney-General’s office told the High Court in Nakuru that the orders from the court, and later the Court of Appeal, on the rules guiding the payment were unclear.
  • He asked the court to halt contempt of court proceedings filed by the former teachers against TSC boss Gabriel Lengoboini and director of pensions Anne Mugo for not obeying the order to pay.
  • He said the Supreme Court could help iron out the many uncertainties.

The government has said a Sh17 billion award to 52,000 retired teachers is not enforceable because court judgements were not clear.

The Attorney-General’s office told the High Court in Nakuru that the orders from the court, and later the Court of Appeal, on the rules guiding the payment were unclear.

State counsel Ephantus Njoroge told Justice Anyara Emukule that the Controller of Budget was not sure if the Consolidated Fund could be used to pay the Sh151 billion that the retired teachers are now claiming.

He asked the court to halt contempt of court proceedings filed by the former teachers against Teachers Service Commission boss Gabriel Lengoboini and director of pensions Anne Mugo for not obeying the order to pay.

“Halting the contempt case will allow time for the State agencies to move to the Court of Appeal on March 6 for a determination on whether they could move to the Supreme Court on further appeal,” said Mr Njoroge.

He said the Supreme Court could help iron out the many uncertainties.

The Retired Teachers of 1997 Group sued TSC in 2006, claiming unpaid lump sum salary increment and accrued pension from July 1997.

The former teachers won the case before Nakuru High Court Judge David Maraga based on the 1997 TSC and Kenya National Union of Teachers collective bargaining agreement.
TSC appealed the judgement but the Court of Appeal ordered it to pay the teachers Sh16.7 billion in unpaid pension as of November 2010.
On Tuesday, lawyer Allan Sitima said that the State agencies did not know how much they would continue paying, for how long and to how many people. The State agencies argue that implementing the award in its current form would lead to labour unrest in the education sector.