Go back to drawing board to resolve teacher flight stand-off

The seemingly small matter of teachers who have refused to go back to north eastern Kenya because of claims of insecurity has profound implications.

It needs careful handling, inconsistent with the threats issued by the government that the teachers will be sacked. The stand-off signifies the effects of Al-Shabaab-induced insecurity.

Before Kenya’s military incursion into Somalia in 2011, Al-Shabaab attacks on Kenyan soil were isolated and hardly distinguishable from ordinary crime.

But starting with the Westgate siege, and then Mpeketoni and Mandera attacks, Al-Shabaab went large scale, mounting attacks aimed at maximising both casualties and publicity.

Originally, the attacks were indiscriminate, but they eventually showed religious undertones, first at Westgate, then Mpeketoni, and most clearly in the Mandera attacks, where non-Muslims were isolated for slaughter.

While the targeting of non-Muslims at Westgate had a significantly different effect in cosmopolitan Nairobi, not so in the Muslim-dominated areas.

By targeting non-Muslims in northern Kenya, a Muslim-dominated region, Al-Shabaab triggered a mass exodus of non-Muslims, including the teachers who are now seeking transfers.

The consequence of the exodus is the appearance of a country with religiously defined enclaves.

President Uhuru Kenyatta acknowledged the use of terrorism to create religious enclaves in the country, asserting that “the obvious intent [of the Mandera attacks] is to create hostility and suspicion across religious and ethnic lines and to drive non-Muslims from certain parts of the country.”

CONTROLS TERRITORY

Secondly, by causing the departure of non-Muslims from north eastern Kenya, Al-Shabaab has created the impression that it now holds territory on Kenyan soil, something it never did before, and which it had lost even in Somalia.

The appearance of north eastern Kenya as Al-Shabaab-controlled territory is a direct challenge to the country’s statehood and sovereignty.

Again, the President spoke on this issue, saying “the ultimate aim of this atrocious campaign is to establish an extremist caliphate in our region.”

In these circumstances, conceding to the demands by the teachers has several implications.

First, it will give official recognition that the campaign to drive non-Muslims out of Muslim areas is now a success and that the government has been forced to acknowledge it by allowing non-Muslim teachers to leave north eastern.

Second, it will create the impression that the fiction of north eastern Kenya as Al-Shabaab-controlled is a reality.

Third, it will, of course, also destabilise the education system in that part of the country in ways that are contrary to public interest, and raise serious questions about the health of Kenya’s nation-building.

SET A PRECEDENT

Fourth, conceding to the demands by the teachers may set a precedent for public servants, who could demand to be transferred from their current stations owing to parochial or unfounded grounds.

It is, however, useful to note that the teachers have legitimate and strong grievances.

First, beyond government assurances that they will be safe to return to work, there is no guarantee that this is the case.

Previous assurances on security have been proved wrong. The teachers are entitled to doubt the government assurances.

Also, a number of teachers who are associated with victims of the killings in Mandera are being asked to go back to the very place where close colleagues met their death.

It is callous of the government not to acknowledge that this is a problem.

Testimonies before the parliamentary committee by some teachers suggest that beyond the challenges on security, they face intolerance and harassment by locals, with women teachers also alleging sexual attacks. These claims merit investigation.

There is still such a thing as hardship areas in the country, and much of north eastern Kenya falls under this category.

Previously, the government recognised this fact, offering hardship allowances to employees deployed in areas it classified as hardship zones.

In addition to often harsh climatic conditions, insecurity is now a source of hardship that needs recognition.

The government needs to re-visit its policy on hardship allowances because people working in the well-watered parts of Kenya, which also happen to be more secure, have very different experiences from those working in arid and semi-arid zones.

As rational human beings, the teachers must treasure their jobs, which they would like to keep.

Why, then, are they jeopardizing their employment by refusing to return to north eastern Kenya?

The truth is that despite government assurances to the contrary, they know the area is still insecure. They are saying the salary is not worth the risk.

Also, some teachers have suffered trauma and need both counseling and time off to heal.

Counseling should be offered at public expense, and the concerned teachers should be provided with reasonable periods of time away from work to recuperate.

This means that the TSC would need to hire temporary teachers in their places.

It would be necessary to confront the negative ordinary experiences that some of the teachers have reported.

The best-placed authorities to do this are the county governments in north eastern Kenya.

These should organise public hearings in their county headquarters, where concerned teachers can be invited to talk about their experiences, and to seek solutions as necessary.

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