Civil Servants and Tutors Leave CS Rotich Scratching His Head.

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Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.

A dismal performance in revenue collection  and a downfall in the proportion of first-charge expenditure like payment of debts and pension have left the Treasury in an unpredictable position to dispense even an extra cent to the disgruntled State workers.

The Finance Ministry under CS Henry Rotich had set aside Sh 6 billion contingency fund to cater for unforeseen expenses, apparently, the money is not enough to stop the wave of industrial actions that have been a source of fiscal upsets for the Government in the recent past.

Civil servants have threatened to go on strike in two weeks’ time if the Government does not pay their housing and hardship allowances totaling to Sh11.7 billion. They insist that their employer has reneged on the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed on June 27, 2017.

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Henry Rotich, CS Finance.

This comes barely a day after Medical practitioners downed their tools over a fallen agreements with county governments and the Ministry of Labour who have turned their deaf ear to them promising to go on strike until their cry is hearkened to.

On the other sides, Teachers under their umbrella, Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) want immediate reinstatement of all promotions. These include promotions of all teachers with relevant higher qualifications, long service and exceptional performance in their work by January 2, 2019.

Image result for wilson sossionKNUT Secretary General,Wilson Sossion.

Remember that KNUT joined forces with Central Organisation of Trade Union (Cotu) to create a super-labour union, analysts believe the battle will be tedious and excruciating. KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion told Financial Standard that they expect about Sh6 billion from their employer, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) which is the equal Rotich set for contingencies.

According to KNUT, close to 30,000 teachers who had advanced their education to get better pay or promotion have been waiting for the last four years to be promoted and has been a point of contention with their boss body KNUT.

Should the industrial unrest come into fruition, it remains unclear and  question to ponder on how how the Treasury plans to contain this crisis.Economists, however, say this agitation is going to have a negative effect on the economy.

With  the government having rolled out its big four agenda, it is likely some of them will be put pending. Critical development spending, such as the building of roads, hospitals, schools, dams, might be sacrificed, slowing down the country’s ambitious march to becoming an industrialized middle-income country by 2030.

 

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