Nancy Macharia and TSC are sued by female educators for Kewota deductions.
A court battle has erupted between female teachers and their employer over allegations that, during the previous five years, welfare fees totaling hundreds of millions of shillings were improperly withheld from their pay stubs.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) have all been drawn into the conflict between the teachers and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
In an attempt to stop the deductions and get the money returned to the impacted teachers, five Kuppet officials have filed lawsuits against their own union, TSC, Knut, and EACC (on behalf of the affected female instructors).
Paul Rotich (Nandi), Robert Miano (Laikipia), Peter Oluoch (Tana River), Jentrix Ogola (Kisii Vice Treasurer), and William Lengoyiap (Samburu) are Kuppet branch executive secretaries. They have accused Kuppet, EACC, and Knut of permitting TSC and its CEO, Nancy Macharia, to break the law and the constitutional rights of female teachers.
According to documents submitted before the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nakuru, the Social Welfare Association (SWA), which is listed as the recipient of the Sh200 monthly deductions on teachers’ pay stubs, is not identified.
“(TSC and its CEO) often stop the deductions from time to time, for a month or so, after which they resume (deductions) in an attempt to conceal the nature and cumulative amount of the deductions to confuse the affected teachers on how much has been deducted from them (cumulatively),” the officials claim in court documents.
They assert that they have repeatedly demanded an end to the deductions since they started occurring five years ago, but Ms. Macharia and the TSC have persisted in chopping their pay stubs “in what could only point at a personal interest on the matter.”
The teachers are requesting that the court rule that the female teachers have experienced financial shame and injustices as a result of “them being forcefully enrolled into an unknown entity, and having the money taken from their pay.”
It is said that TSC fails to identify the receiving agency and that the deductions lack a coherent narrative, in contrast to other items recorded in the pay slips.
“They (teachers) are still unaware of the location, daily operations, and management of the organization that has been receiving their funds without their consent since 2019.”
The petitioners claim in court documents that “the female teachers affected have had to contend with receiving an even lesser salary as a result of these illegal deductions, which money is not sufficient to cater for their needs in these harsh economic times.”
The petitioners claim that TSC implemented a “exit button” for Kuppet and Knut members to leave the union in order for them to be eligible for the third phase of salary increases, after concerns about the deductions.
The EACC attests in a replying document that it received the complaint regarding the purportedly unlawful pay-slip reductions in May 2023.
Following receipt of the complaint, “it was entered into the system, and the matter is under active investigations stage,” according to the Commission (EACC).
The TSC claims in its answering affidavit that the female teachers’ appeal is founded on false information about employment law, practice, and facts.
According to Ms. Evaleen Mitei, the interim TSC director in charge of human resource management, “teachers have the absolute ability to discontinue/or stop any deductions that are unauthorized through the T-Pay system.”
“Therefore, in light of the circumstances, the claims made in the petition against the commission are not only unreasonable but also untenable.”
She claims that deductions from the Social Welfare Association (SWA) were made on behalf of the Kenya Women Teachers Association (Kewota), a union that Ogola, one of the petitioners, claims to have belonged to since 2019 but which she does not claim to be a member of.
According to court documents, Knut has not yet responded to the petition, which might have significant financial effects on teachers’ welfare groups and unions.
Additionally, in response to the petition, TSC halted deductions from Kuppet’s Burial and Benevolent Fund (BBF) in accordance with a document sent to the union secretary-general, Mr. Akello Misori.
Nancy Macharia and TSC are sued by female educators for Kewota deductions.
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