From class to menial jobs: Sad tales of teachers who refused to go back to North Eastern

Mr Charles Achol, a teacher, is distraught.

When he received his employment letter from the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in January 2021, he was elated to land a State job at last.

However, his joy was short-lived when he was posted to Lafey Boarding Primary School in Mandera County.

“Deep down I knew I would be posted in a hardship area. I was posted on January 6,2021 immediately after the Covid pandemic when schools reopened. Getting employed by TSC is not easy unless you use the route I used which is targeting a hardship area,” said Mr Achol.

Mr Achol, who now runs a fish kiosk in Nairobi's Dandora estate to make ends meet, requested a transfer from the TSC after three years of working in the terror-prone area. However, he was turned down.

Read: TSC interdicts teachers who refused to return to North Eastern schools

When his application was rejected, Mr Achol, 31, decided to leave the school which is situated in the last town towards the Somalia border due to insecurity.

He was among the more than 100 non-local teachers in the North Eastern Region working in Mandera, Wajir and Garissa counties who asked for transfers due to insecurity in August last year, but were later interdicted for failing to report to work.

“I suffered for three years, and then I decided to ask my employer for a transfer because of rampant Shabaab attacks. However, it was rejected. I received letters from the TSC including warnings, show cause and lastly interdiction," he narrated.

When schools reopened, they received letters from TSC directing them to report back to their workstations by September 7, 2023 failure to which disciplinary action shall be taken against them.

TSC said it would be impossible to transfer non-local teachers out of the North Eastern region due to a lack of suitable replacements. The region has more than 3,000 non-local teachers.

In January this year, TSC reinstated the teachers and ordered them to return to their workstations. 

“The town where I was working was threatened by Shabaab militia. So when you are in that town, you can never be at peace. There were no houses to rent because we were discriminated against as non-locals,” he told Nation.

Read: Shock as TSC reinstates, orders non-local teachers back to North Eastern

Mr Achol who hails from Siaya County said he used to sleep in a ditch alongside police officers. He said most teachers deserted their houses due to insecurity and others resorted to sleeping inside police camps.  

They went to court and he was given a month’s suspension which ended on December 4, 2023. 

“From there, we were waiting for posting letters. Others got their reposting letters to Mandera but unfortunately, I did not receive mine. This made me, alongside others to petition the National Assembly. The Parliamentary Committee on Education promised to give us feedback. We’ve not heard from the Julius Melly-chaired committee to date,” he added.

The 120 teachers went again to court in February this year, seeking an order to stop reposting letters but TSC requested for more time. The teachers’ employer was granted another month that elapsed in March.

The judge allowed TSC and their lawyer to settle the matter out of court.

“We were given a month to ensure the matter is settled out of court and register our consent with the court before April 5. TSC was mandated to look for us, unfortunately, they did not so the window period elapsed. So we are at a crossroads,” said the P1 certificate teacher with a Diploma in ECDE.

The teacher says they do not know their fate because no arbitration has ever taken place.

“We are just at home jobless and hopeless because you cannot look for a job in a private school, you don’t know whether you will be employed. Once your TSC number is keyed into a computer of a serious private school, it will reveal all your information that you are a TSC employee under interdiction,” he added.

However, some of his colleagues decided to go back to teaching in the region after losing hope of getting transferred.

Achol once tried his hand in the matatu sector but says that the vehicle got into an accident and was written off. 

Read: Three teachers killed in Wajir Shabaab attack

“I am now selling fish in Dandora to get money to feed my wife and three children. What can you do?” said the Kiswahili language teacher.

A similar fate befell his colleague from Baringo, whose identity we cannot reveal for ethical reasons.

The teacher left Mandera on July 26, 2023, after his friend, another teacher and around two police officers were murdered by militants.

“When they were killed, there was tension in the area, so I decided to run away to save my life. By then I was teaching at Malkamari, in Banisa. So I went to TSC headquarters to explain the situation. They directed me to go for counseling at the Nairobi Mental Health Services,” he said.

He was admitted in hospital for two weeks from September 6, 2023, to September 20, 2023. But on September 22, when TSC began dispatching interdiction letters for teachers who had not reported to school, he was among them.

The teacher wondered why he was interdicted yet he had been given sick leave.

“I sent the particular letter to the Mandera County director and copied my principal, but I still got the interdiction letter. So on December 5, 2023, I was summoned for the hearing of my case at the TSC headquarters,” he said.

He was later reposted to Neboi Secondary School in Mandera, an equally volatile area at the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia border.

He reported to school on January 15, 2024, but his stay would not be for long.

“I went back to risking my life in Mandera but I taught for four days. On January 19, 2024, a police officer was killed and two others injured about two kilometres from where I lived at the Mandera border point,” he narrated.

At one point, having partially recovered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the secondary school teacher absent-mindedly walked towards the Kenya-Somali border.

“But someone brought me back to my house. I later realised I was still sick, so I decided to travel back to Nairobi and went back to the same hospital where I was admitted from January 20 to 27. To date I have not returned to Mandera,” he revealed.

In a signed letter to TSC, his doctors advised his employer to transfer him from Mandera to Marigat Sub-county in Baringo where his family lives for psychological support and aid in his recovery.

The English and Literature teacher is currently operating a boda boda to feed his family.

“From earning a basic salary of Sh46,000 plus allowances today I earn Sh400 on a good day and sometimes I don’t get anything. My family has been deprived of basic needs as a result of TSC not transferring me from Mandera to a safer station,” he added.

The Bachelor of Education Arts, English and Literature graduate from Laikipia University says people think he was sacked.

In Kisii County, Mr Evans Nyaundi who also runs a boda boda business after he was interdicted from Hareri Secondary School in Mandera says life has become tough.

“My salary was stopped in September, I had to venture into business to survive, that is why I am a boda boda rider. I bought a second-hand motorcycle to feed my family. People are wondering why degree holders are now boda boda operators, but we must survive,” said Mr Nyaundi.

The Biology and Chemistry teacher who has a degree from Karatina University said his Sh45,000 net salary was little to feed his family. 

The teachers criticised the National Assembly and their union officials for deserting them in their hour of need.

“How can more than 100 teachers suffer yet we have a whole committee and teachers’ union?” he wondered. 

He said non-local teachers are facing challenges with the majority grappling with mental health due to insecurity. 

“A lot of non-local teachers and police officers have died in the hands of Shabaab. What has TSC done to ensure teachers are safe?” he asked.

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