The Employment and Labour Relations Court has temporarily stopped the scrapping or reduction of hardship allowances for teachers and other government workers.
Justice Hellen Wasilwa granted the conservatory orders against the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and the Attorney-General.
Justice Hellen Wasilwa at Milimani Commercial Court in Nairobi on January 12, 2017.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The case stems from the 2019 “Inter-Agency Technical Committee Report on Hardship Area Reclassification”, which was tabled in Parliament by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi in March this year.
The report recommends a review and reclassification of hardship zones, a move that could result in the degazettement of some areas. That, in turn, could see teachers and civil servants in those areas lose hardship allowances.
“Pending the hearing and determination of the petition, this court issues a temporary injunction and/or conservatory order restraining the respondents ... from enforcing or acting upon the said report or any decisions emanating therefrom, including the cancellation and degazettement of hardship areas or reduction of ... allowances payable to teachers and other public officers,” the judge said.
The report proposes a reduction of hardship allowances and the scrapping of some categories. It also proposes the degazettement of more than 50 hardship zones.
When tabling the report, Mr Mudavadi said areas designated as hardship should be remote – with inadequate food supply, infrastructure, security and basic social services and amenities.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) identified and used seven parameters to guide the determination and re-categorisation of the zones.
These were food, water, transport and communication, social services, climate and terrain, security and poverty index.
The government introduced the allowance in 1969 as an incentive for officers stationed in the areas.
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“The civil service uses the former district boundaries while the TSC uses educational zones for categorisation,” Mr Mudavadi told Parliament.
The civil service, county governments and state corporations have 16 designated hardship areas, the TSC has 44, while the Judiciary has 21.”
Tutors in these regions have formed the Kenya Teachers in Hardship and Arid Areas Welfare Association, a lobby that is against the degazettement or reduction of the allowance.
“At first, the allowance was tied to arid and semi-arid areas. But there are teachers working in extremely cold regions like Kinangop, Kericho and Limuru, with many developing cold-related illnesses. A doctor can never recommend you to be in such conditions,” said Mr Ndung’u Wangenye, the association’s secretary.
He added that some areas designated for degazettement still lack clean water, proper housing, electricity, roads and reliable communication networks.
He said climatic conditions account for the largest percentage in determining the allowance, followed by infrastructure and security challenges.
Counties like Mandera, Wajir, Turkana, West Pokot and Baringo were singled out as high-risk because of recurrent attacks by bandits, terrorists or livestock thieves.
“Insecurity is not just in the northern region but also in urban slums, where walking at night is a risk. That should also count as hardship,” Mr Wangenye said.
