Resigning KESSHA Chair discusses the highs and lows of their relationship with TSC and MoE.
Indimuli Kahi, the former national chairman of KESSHA. During his tenure, he made a few unintentional slight mistakes with TSC and MoE.
The relationship between his employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), and himself occasionally deteriorated throughout his term, but overall remained friendly despite these disruptions, according to outgoing KESSHA National Chairman Kahi Indimuli.
With a lighthearted tone that broke up the generally somber proceedings of the Kakamega KESSHA Conference at the Legacy Hotel in Nakuru City, Indimuli described how his meeting with TSC CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia had once run afoul of one another.
“Wajuaji wajuaji, nyinyi muko hapo na employer anaita meeting, ya people!” (loose translation: “You folks have developed intelligence.
You’ve made the decision to hold a meeting at your employer’s location?”) Indimuli thought of one such instance. The CEO then went ahead and reduced part of the dues from all 10,000 principals in Kenya as a penalty for his wrongdoing.
When he asked protocol officials at his office, they told him the hitch had been caused by a misunderstanding. The TSC invitation letter was delivered, and he received it through WhatsApp; nevertheless, the staff miserably neglected to contact him to get confirmation.
Indimuli advised KESSHA leadership to constantly work with their superiors, saying, “After a few days, the CEO called and asked me to explain why I did not attend the TSC consultative meeting.
I humbly told her that I did not receive the invitation letter on time.” Senior Ministry of Education (MoE) officials called him one other time to demand the release of capitation during a news conference.
“I asked the government to give capitation funding to secondary schools since principals were running out of money to operate activities during a meeting that was highly attended by KESSHA members. To loud applause, Indimuli continued,
“After a few hours, I received a call from senior MoE officers who demanded an explanation of what I was telling the media.” Indimuli claimed he received a warning that if KESSHA keeps calling for capitation through press conferences, the government may disband the organization.
What exactly are you attempting to demonstrate to us? “Do you know we can dissolve KESSHA right now?” asked an obviously irritated officer. He gave advice to the next KESSHA National Chair, who will be chosen at the national conference in August of this year, to collaborate with the TSC and MoE while also professionally leading KESSHA to achieve its goals.
As the National Chair of KESSHA, he counseled, “ask how to work with MoE and TSC, but ensure you are efficient, transparent, and operate at a high integrity level,” acknowledging that certain counties, particularly the ASAL regions, had unique issues.
As the National Chairman of KESSHA, Indimuli retired last year. Willy Kuria, the acting chief principal of Murang’a High School, took his post. It remains to be seen if he will be confirmed during the elections in August.
Resigning KESSHA Chair discusses the highs and lows of their relationship with TSC and MoE.