Staff at Kitui Teachers Training College who have been sent on compulsory unpaid leave are calling on the Ministry of Education to intervene and ensure they are being paid their eight months’ salary arrears.
The 26 workers who started their unpaid and indefinite leave on July 1 also want the decision rescinded.
They said the college Principal Catherine Irungu acted without consulting the College Board.
Some of the workers who spoke to us but asked not to be mentioned for fear of being victimized said that prior to the unpaid leave, they had worked for eight months without pay.
There was no convincing explanation from the college administration on the delayed payment-they said.
According to the letters signed by the principal and addressed to each of the affected non-teaching staff members titled “indefinite leave without pay”, the principal said the college has been facing financial constraints due to late remittance of funds from the National Government.
Mrs Irungu also cited the prevailing COVID-19 situation which has led to low enrollment of students, making it difficult to raise enough funds for smooth running of the institution.
“The governments’ late remittance of grants that support personnel emoluments, vote head leaves this management with no option….it has been decided you proceed on indefinite leave without pay until you get further communication from this office,” Irungu said in the signed letters dated June 22.
“It has been eight agonizing months without a salary and now we have been sent on an indefinite unpaid leave. Some of us are servicing loans and this is very traumatizing. It amounts to sacking,” said a female staff member.
The workers claimed that the decision to suspend them was executed by the Principal alone without consulting the BoM.
The suspension letters are copied to Kitui labour office, but the Ministry of Education is not informed.
Majority of the suspended staff have worked at the institution since it started in 2010.
Meanwhile, a team of contractors and suppliers who are owed by the college about ksh20 million moved to court to compel the institution to pay them.
One of the companies is demanding Sh2.1 million as part of payment for construction of a multipurpose hall at the college.
Some have accused the college Irungu of running the institution like a private kiosk and making unilateral decisions without consulting.
The college has also been without electricity for two months due to unpaid power bills.
It has also become a dumping ground for heaps of soil generated from construction sites.
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