Ignoring TSC code could cost your job, EACC warns teachers
Teachers Service Commission chief executive officer Nancy Macharia congragulates the Principal of the Year 2016 winner Mr Solomon Koech from Nakuru region during the end of the 41st Annual National Conference of Principals at Wild Waters in Mombasa on June 24, 2016. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA MEDIA
What you need to know:
- Provisions of Chapter 6 of the Constitution in the Leadership and Integrity Act 2012 apply all to public officers including teachers, says Mr Waqo.
Mr Waqo said TSC is duty bound to develop and enforce a code of conduct and ethics not only in line with its mandate.
Mr Waqo warned teachers that violation of the Chapter Six of the Constitution has serious penal consequences that may include removal from office.
Teachers must abide by the code of conduct and ethics that has been developed by their employer, anti-corruption watchdog has said.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) chief executive officer Halakhe Waqo said the provisions of Chapter Six of the Constitution in the Leadership and Integrity Act 2012 apply to all public officers including teachers.
“Compliance with the ethical and integrity standard set under these laws is a duty and not a choice. No sector or individual is at liberty to choose what provisions of the law to apply to them,” Mr Waqo said in a statement.
Teachers have rejected attempts to audit their income and assets while in service and on exit by their employer, Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
However, speaking in Mombasa on the sidelines of the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association annual conference, TSC chief executive officer, Ms Nancy Macharia, said there is nothing new in the code as it has been in practice since coming into force of the Public Officer Ethics Act 2004.
Friday, Mr Waqo said that public school teachers are considered public officers, therefore, TSC is duty bound to develop and enforce a code of conduct and ethics not only in line with its mandate in relation to them but also as part of its duty under the Public Officer Ethics Act 2004 and the Leadership and Integrity Act 2012.
Mr Waqo said EACC supports the code of conduct noting that it will regulate the behaviour and performance of teachers in the country.
“EACC, as the lead agency mandated to oversight enforcement of ethics and integrity standards among state and public officers including teachers, is keenly monitoring development and implementation of codes of conduct and ethics by all public entities and commissions,” the anti-graft boss said.
Mr Waqo warned teachers that violation of the Chapter Six of the Constitution has serious penal consequences that may include removal from office.
“The Commission wishes to further urge Kenyans to take responsibility for the management of their affairs and hold their public officials to account for their conduct,” he said.
The chief executive officer added Kenyans should desist the temptation to support officials who fail to conform to the tenets of ethics and integrity as enshrined under the law.
(Editing by Joel Muinde)
