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"id": 290875,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Chanzu",
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"legal_name": "Yusuf Kifuma Chanzu",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to support this Motion and I want to congratulate Mr. John Pesa for bringing it. This Motion arises out of payments which were due to teachers who retired between 1997 and 2003, which is a long time ago. Considering that these teachers, apart from the money they are demanding in retirement benefits, ordinarily are not paid adequately - some or a majority of them when they retire peg a lot of hope on their retirement benefits - it would have been important for the Government to have incorporated this Kshs17.6 billion into its Budgets from 2003 when the NARC Government took over power. I think by now they would have cleared this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is sad that the Government does not take seriously matters to do with teachers’ pay. I remember in the year 2001/2002 the Government promised to increase salaries. There was an agreement that was entered into for the Government to pay enhanced salaries to teachers but that was not done. The failure to pay resulted in many strikes. When you find the Government is not willing to pay dues to retired teachers, as in this case, sometimes there is a lot of suspicion that it is not really lack of money; it is because of Government’s reluctance to attend to matters to do with teachers. The Motion says that there was an issue that was raised and that the Minister for Finance on 22nd of February 2012 informed the House that the money had not been paid due to a query by the Controller of Budget. From 22nd February up to now--- We are now in June ; I do not know how long it takes for the office of the Attorney-General to give an opinion on a single matter, considering that there are many issues he is supposed to be dealing with. One single issue has taken too long. It is high time this opinion was given quickly, as money has been factored into the Budget, Kshs3.34 billion, which should be paid to the teachers. We are getting to the close of the financial year. This is now June and at the end of this month this financial year will be closing. Therefore, it is important that one, we pass this Motion and two, steps are taken to fast track the implementation of the resolution that we are going to pass. I am sure that the Members will be passing the Motion and then the implementation of the resolution should be done fast, so that the money does not go back to the Treasury at the end of the financial year. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, education is very important in a developing country like this. We talk about Vision 2030. If we cannot encourage the teaching fraternity through this kind of payment, then we are de-motivating them meaning that we cannot achieve what we are supposed to achieve under Vision 2030. The reluctance of the Government to attend to matters to do with education has also been seen just in the last few weeks, where the Government is not releasing money for free primary education and free secondary education, yet it is a commitment that the Government gave. It should not just wait for people to go to the streets, teachers to go on strike, and Members of Parliament to come here and raise issues for it to act. It is a core responsibility of the Government to take care of education in the country, if we really mind about the welfare of our children, the future of this country and we want to achieve what we promise, particularly during campaign period. In our manifestos and during campaigns we make promises, we are elected but when we come to performance we do not perform. This is where the Government has really failed. I think it is very important. At the time when the teachers started claiming Kshs17.6 billion the Budget of the country was hardly Kshs200 billion. However, today we are talking of a Budget of over Kshs1.4 trillion. I think it is Kshs1.4 trillion this year. So, in terms of proportion the money that the teachers are demanding is not a lot. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am also suggesting that when the Government pays this money they should pay it with interest, which has accrued on the money for all this time. I am happy that the Assistant Minister for Education is here. In fact, even before this Motion is passed, you should be discussing with the Treasury to keep this money aside, so that once we pass this Motion the money is released, just as you were saying the money for the free primary education and free secondary education is going to be released today. I hope it will be released today, or were you saying it because these issues are before the House? Otherwise, this is a good Motion and I think the Government should act on it. We have many people in this country who have worked for the Government, including civil servants. We keep bringing Questions here on a piece meal basis. I think the Government should take seriously these matters and be able to pay and clean up. Pay those who are owed monies by the Government as retirement benefits, so that as we forge ahead; we should not have these complaints arising from time to time. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}