{"id":383241,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/383241/?format=json","text_counter":290,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Sen. Mugo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":85,"legal_name":"Beth Wambui Mugo","slug":"beth-mugo"},"content":"Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion and to support the welfare of teachers. I started as a trained teacher and I taught for two years; so, I know all about teachers. My father was a teacher and, so, I have grown up in the household of a teacher. I do not think any one of us needs to be told about the value of teachers; we all know. The importance of paying teachers properly cannot be overemphasized. But having said that, Madam Temporary Speaker, let me start by saying that this is not a new problem; that is why I am surprised when some of my colleague former Ministers who have spoken here now are talking as if it is a new thing. We discussed this issue in the Cabinet during the last Cabinet and it was a major problem even then. There was a strike. Those former Ministers who spoke here know exactly the problems which we encountered, how we were able to pay or to increase teachers’ salaries and give a little money at a time; and they were part of those decisions. We cannot now, all of a sudden, imagine that there is a lot of money that is going to come from somewhere. That is why I want to support Sen. Murungi when he called for dialogue. It is true that teachers have suffered for too long; it should not be left for that long. But you cannot sort out such a problem overnight because we have to look at the wage bill totally, and not just one sector."}