Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 419543,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/419543/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 237,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, first, I want to thank the Chair for using its discretion to allow the distinguished nominated Senator, Sen. (Dr.) Zani, to move this Motion of Adjournment. A country that gets mired and bedeviled with industrial actions all the time courts instability. This is not the first time university dons have downed their tools. It has happened before. Every time it happens like all other industrial actions, it has serious collateral damage to others. Parents start worrying about their children, students cannot have classes, students cannot stay in their hostels and many things emerge. The professors and dons are not asking for something extraordinary. There were Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) that had been reached. I am happy that in this Senate, we have several ex-dons who understand and appreciate the paltry salaries that university professors, lecturers and researchers earn. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as people start talking about the public debate on salaries, we, as a nation, need to candidly face the challenges that we have. Many lecturers earn very little money. This has always caused many of them to start moonlighting to make ends meet. You will find a professor teaching at the University of Nairobi in the morning. At mid day, he runs to a private university somewhere. Later on, he has to run to another one. In the process, lack of personalized attention, concentration on how to give skills to students becomes wanting. This is because they are inadequately paid. The strike by the university dons is a serious test to the Jubilee Government. When there is clamour of reducing salaries, you can see that the KNUT has already signaled that they want more money. The dons are asking for more money. The doctors are asking for more money. Nurses are asking for more money. Everybody is asking for more money. All these requests for more money can be addressed holistically. As we have said, it is not impossible or irrational to sit down with dons to discuss and to give them a sensible offer. They very well know that they may not get what they want. They very well know they may not get what they are looking for. However, there must be benchmarks for negotiations. Look around and see how much dons in comparable jurisdictions are paid and give them something to take home. At one time, during the populace days in this country, university lecturers were offered duty free car facilities. Again, that was summarily and without explanation withdrawn. The first lecturers during our days at the university used to be housed by the universities. There is nothing as important as housing to anybody who earns a salary or wages. Today, the lecturers are not housed. The few who are housed are negligible. The salary that an average lecturer earns forces them to stay as far as Ongata Rongai, Kitengela and Kayole and yet he has to be in class."
}