Obey court order, Johnson Muthama and James Orengo tell State

What you need to know:

  • “Henry Rotich is lying that the government does not have money,” Orengo claims.

The Opposition has asked the government to pay teachers higher salaries as ordered by the court.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Cord Management Committee Co-Chairman James Orengo said the teachers’ strike demonstrated “the warped priorities of the Jubilee regime”.

Mr Orengo said the government’s insistence that it could not pay the enhanced salaries because it lacked money showed its contempt for teachers.

“Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich is lying that the government does not have money. The government has more than enough at its disposal,” he said.

He added that the Jubilee administration has been paying for mega-scandals.

The Siaya senator said Parliament does not need to approve a supplementary budget or increase taxes in order to meet the teachers’ demand.

“There is the failed laptop project, Sh1 billion set aside for senators, Sh3 billion for parliamentary committees on education and what the president and his cabinet secretaries said was slashed from their salaries. There is also the money some people are using for harambees,” Mr Orengo said.

Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama said the auditor-general’s report revealed that Sh67 billion could not be accounted for and that Sh200 billion from the sovereign bond was deposited in an offshore account illegally.

“The government is the guarantor and custodian of the rule of law and must faithfully comply with the orders of the court,” Mr Muthama said.