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{
    "id": 10513,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/10513/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 326,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Kamar",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 33,
        "legal_name": "Margaret Jepkoech Kamar",
        "slug": "margaret-kamar"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the first question from Mr. Koech on what the Government is doing to stop this strike. Discussions are going on right now. We are still trying to jump-start negotiations because it is the only way. Unless we come around a table and discuss, there is no other way we can jump-start this. I also want to say that we are discussing with the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE). According to FKE, this is an illegal strike because there was no stalemate in the negotiation itself. We actually believe that there was nothing. According to the law, you cannot go on strike unless you have had a stalemate in the negotiation. This time they have not even come to the table. They have disadvantaged themselves and all of us because they have locked themselves out of negotiating. We are trying to see how to get to negotiations. We are pursuing that both in the courts and otherwise. Dr. Khalwale asked what we are doing to ensure that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission takes over. It is true that the law that forms the Commission means all salaries. Initially, we impressed upon the universities that that is where we are and that is why the circular by Amb. Muthaura came out to actually state that we should stop negotiations until that is done. They did not believe in it initially but eventually, in their own letter, they are now saying that they want their salaries to be restructured and negotiated with the Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 which means they are now agreeing with us. I think this is going to be simple so that our salaries from the cleaner to the President can be negotiated in one place. We are hoping that that will be done. We will be harmonizing our laws with the new Constitution so that those duties that overlap can be put to where the Constitution says they should be. To answer Dr. Laboso, yes, it is true that the country takes professors seriously. For that reason, in 2003, they were allowed to form their own union. It is out of the union that the current salaries are on. These are negotiated salaries. All employees of the university actually have their separate unions for purposes of negotiating. Therefore, once you have been given the tools to negotiate, if they take advantage of negotiation, the sky is open for them. They can negotiate for anything. Whatever the country can afford will be taken on board. Yes, the Government is taking that seriously and that is why we fought to ensure that we open negotiations as the Commission is not in place. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr. Chanzu has asked for clarification on the preparedness for the increasing institutions. Yes, we are preparing ourselves in all ways. We are preparing ourselves by increasing members of staff and increasing institutions. We are also looking at the laws that are governing the institutions of higher learning. Those are areas where we have loopholes and weaknesses. As I said, even with regard to the issue of salaries, we are trying to harmonize what our laws are saying and what the Salaries and Remuneration Commission is doing so that we are in tandem with the new Constitution. Those are some of the preparations we are making. We are quite conscious that the institutions are going to increase. The last clarification was sought by Mr. Mbadi. He asked whether I am satisfied that the remunerations are okay because of the depreciating Kenya shilling. Obviously everybody has been affected by the shilling downwards. It is not only the professors but everybody else. I would not isolate that as an issue surrounding this strike. This strike has to do with negotiations that stalled in 2009 which we are jump-starting irrespective of whether the shilling misbehaves or behaves. Again, we are appealing even to the Members here to talk to our professors and lecturers. We cannot afford to close our universities even for a week because of the programmes that are currently going on and the way we have synchronized them. We are also keen to make sure that the accelerated intake of students is undertaken within these three years. By 2015, we are going to have something close to double intake because of the free education. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my appeal to the whole country is that we give negotiations a chance. This is what our unions are not doing. They are not giving us a chance to negotiate; if we negotiate, we should settle for something."
}