Prof. Sam Ongeri

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 1831 to 1840 of 1925.

• 21 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: been in doubt, and we have never said "no" to paying teachers. What we are saying, which I said yesterday, is that Kshs17.3 billion is the agreed global figure. Now, I would like Members of Parliament to help me get that Kshs17 billion in one round. I have never said "no". What I have, and I think it is only fair for them to know it, is that I can only spend such money as is budgeted for me by this Parliament. The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Dr. Khalwale, will question any expenditure outside what is available in ... view
• 21 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: Let us deal with this issue without political machinations and rhetoric. It is important that, whereas I am very emphatic to the teachers and Dr. Khalwale, whom I dutifully taught, and he can argue in this House--- Therefore, let us separate reality from what is possible. view
• 21 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one thing that I am not prepared to do in this House is to promise teachers today that I will pay them at one go, and then when I go back to my office, I have no resources with which I can effect the payment. That way, I will become a liar in this hon. House. Therefore, instead of hon. Members spending time arguing, they should be finding ways and means through Budget provisions and allocations that can be appropriated to teachers. view
• 21 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr. Koech should be patient enough to listen. Already, there is a conciliation committee that has been constituted, and I appeal to teachers to attend that committee where dialogue is going on. They will present their views there. They should stop the strike and go back to the classroom until this matter is put to rest. That is the way forward! But you cannot have a way forward by demanding instant payment, yet you know the machinery for effecting payment will take another six or seven months to put in place. view
• 21 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: So, my advice, and the way forward, is for the teachers to go and attend the conciliation meeting, which is convened by the Minister for Labour in accordance with the labour law of 2007. They should go there, because if you say that it is a matter for the Ministry of Education--- They wrote to me and I told them that I had exhausted my machinery. Therefore, the matter should go to another level. This letter is here and you can loo at it. view
• 21 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to say that this Motion can only be answered by saying that teachers should go back to the negotiating table. There is already machinery that has been put in place for them to express their views. Therefore, they have no business being out there on a strike. Let them go back to the table! view
• 20 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I seek your indulgence, in view of the current strike by teachers, which touches on various families, communities and the nation at large, to make a Ministerial Statement at this point. view
• 20 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members are aware that in early 2008 - to be exact, in February, 2008 - I appointed the Teachers Service Remuneration Committee (TSRC) under the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Act Cap.212 of the Laws of Kenya. The Committee was gazetted on 15th February, 2008, and inaugurated on 22nd of April, 2008. The Committee is made up of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Service, TSC and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT). Between May and December, 2008, the Committee held 13 meetings to discuss issues of basic salaries for all the ... view
• 20 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will do so. First, why six years? Yes, it is true that the civil service pay package of about Kshs4 billion which was paid in July, 2008, was done over a period of six years in order to effect the harmonisation process. That is why the period of six years was suggested for the KNUT when the negotiations were going on. Therefore, you should be congratulating the Government that despite that set period of six years of harmonisation, we have been able to reduce it to three years. This was arrived at after having had two ... view
• 20 Jan 2009 in National Assembly: What about the civil service salaries? I will combine that question with that of Dr. Khalwale regarding a 35 per cent increase in the teachers' pay. When the harmonisation process was to take effect, the net salary for Job Groups F to J--- Job Group F comprises of P1, P2, AT3 and AT4. If the harmonisation was to take place in accordance with the existing policy, then teachers in this category would have walked away with a 2 per cent increase. The Government realised that it would not be convincing enough. So, we allowed a little distortion to occur in ... view