Knut asks govt to give risk allowance to teachers in NE Kenya to tame exodus

Newly-elected Garissa Branch Secretary-General Abdirizak Hussein alias Njagi is carried by his supporters on February 11, 2016. Mr Hussein called on the government to consider giving risk allowances to teachers in north-eastern Kenya. PHOTO | ABDIMALIK HAJIR | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  ABDIMALIK HAJIR

What you need to know:

  • In 2015, more than 2000 non-local teachers left north-eastern Kenya following deadly Al-Shabaab attacks.
  • Mr Hussein also called on the government to recruit more teachers in the county noting that there was a biting shortage.
  • He urged the government to look into the welfare of instead of threatening them with interdiction.
  • Mr Hussein won the hotly contested post after garnering 225 votes against the incumbent Mr Ibrahim Atosh who got 127 votes

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has demanded that the government gives a risk allowance to teachers in insecurity-prone areas to avoid mass exodus of tutors from the north-eastern Kenya as a results of terrorism activities.

Speaking in Garissa Thursday moments after he was declared the winner in Knut elections, newly-elected Garissa Branch Secretary-General Abdirizak Hussein alias Njagi said there were immense challenges in the education sector in the region due to insecurity which made teachers to leave the region.

He said the government can only solve this problem by giving teachers risk allowance as a way of enticing them to continue teaching despite threats to their lives instead of constant intimidation and threats of interdiction and sacking.

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“Teachers in insecurity-prone areas are faced with immense challenges and the government ought to appreciate their work by giving them risk allowances and not threats of interdiction.

"We understand there is a challenge of insecurity but the government has the solution to retain teachers by giving allowances,” he told journalists.

REMUNERATED WELL

Mr Hussein gave the example of non-local teachers at the refugee camps saying they remained there because United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) remunerates them well.

In 2015, more than 2000 non-local teachers left north-eastern Kenya citing threats to their lives after Somalia-based Al-Shabaab killed a number of them.

Mr Hussein, at the same time, called on the government to recruit more teachers in the county noting that there was a biting shortage.

Mr Hussein won the hotly contested post after garnering 225 votes against the incumbent Mr Ibrahim Atosh who got 127 votes in an election conducted by officials from the Labour ministry led by Bonaya Kase.

“I thank teachers for electing me and as a union we will make sure we will fight for your rights and push for better remuneration,” he said after being declared the winner.

Mohamed Shide was elected as the treasurer after garnering 221 votes.

Bashir Abdullahi Odowa was elected as the Garissa branch chairman unopposed.

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