Hundreds of Nairobi-based teachers who were promoted and controversially posted to Kitui are now demanding that their employer revoke the ‘punitive promotion’ letters and adhere to the government’s delocalisation policy.
The teachers, among the 23,000 promoted by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in May 2025, were stunned on Monday to learn they had been transferred far from home, some with just months to retirement.
The Delocalization Policy abolished in 2021 required the TSC to transfer teachers to teach in areas outside their place of origin in an attempt to deter conflict of interest in the administration of public schools.
“The Teachers Service Commission should immediately revoke the punitive promotion letters and adhere to our government policy on delocalisation,” Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Nairobi branch secretary Macharia Mugwe said yesterday at their Wakulima House office.
A total of 156 teachers many of who are above 50 years have been posted to Kitui including 52 deputy headteachers, 43 head teachers, 35 deouty principals and 26 principals.
He noted that TSC was treating Nairobi teachers unfairly, pointing out that this same cohort had been promoted in 2021 and delocalised to counties such as Makueni, Machakos and Kajiado, only to be brought back later by the Kenya Kwanza government.
The promoted teachers have up to a month to take up offer in accordance with the Code of Regulations for Teachers (2015), with the downside to declining being remaining stuck at that level and missing out on better perks.
The teachers said some of their colleagues across the country who were in the final promotion list already have their salaries adjusted.
“The teachers should be promoted as they await positions in Nairobi as it is not their fault not to have enough schools,” said Mr Mugwe.
Last month, the TSC tossed up 21,313 promotion vacancies for teachers to apply for slots thet covers teachers from job group C1 to D4.
Mr Mugwe noted that this was done in total disregard of the lack of vacancies in Nairobi, causing anxiety in schools and disrupting learning.
“Infact, the TSC should increase administrative positions in schools with high enrolment like three or four deputies in a school,”he said.
The teachers posted in Kitui have protested the deployment citing advanced age, health issues, separation from sick spouses and relatives which is causing them stress.
The majority said they had worked in Nairobi for decades and built their lives there, arguing that being sent far away would force them to start afresh, a difficult task for someone nearing retirement.
In the recent TSC promotion exercise, a total of 189,000 applications were received for only 25,000 slots, sparking claims of bias and unfairness.
Upon releasing the final list of 25,252 promotions in April, legislators from the National Assembly and the Senate rejected it as flawed, citing violations of the three-year service rule. TSC admitted to relaxing the 3-year rule to fill certain roles but failed to convince lawmakers, leaving the process mired in a stalemate.
On May 29, after sustained pressure and a parliamentary directive, TSC released a revised list of 23,000 promotions, but anxiety persisted as some teachers received official letters while others were left waiting.
