David Bett, a secondary school teacher from Kuresoi South in Nakuru County, is grappling with financial difficulties due to the Teachers Service Commission’s (TSC) failure to remit his loan deductions.
Mr Bett borrowed Sh670,000 from a teachers’ sacco a year ago to expand his agricultural enterprise.
For months, TSC had been diligently remitting Sh14,000 monthly to the Sacco under a check-off system but this remittance ceased three months ago.
“The Sacco reached out to me, questioning why my deductions had stopped. They wondered if I was still employed by TSC or if there had been a change in my employment status,” Mr Bett says.
Last week, he discovered that his Sacco shares worth Sh42,000 had been used to cover the unremitted loan instalments.
The Sacco management informed him that since his salary was processed through another financial institution, the only way to recover the outstanding amount was by using his shares.
He has now been left baffled as to why the money which was deducted from his payslip by TSC was not remitted.
Last month, Ms Nyaboke, a teacher in Narok County, discovered that TSC had failed to remit her National Social Security Fund (NSSF) deductions, an unprecedented problem in her 11 years of service.
“I requested a statement of my remittance history from TSC. NSSF assured me that as long as I was employed, the issue would be addressed. The Fund is following up on the matter,” Ms Nyaboke said.
Ms Nayboke and Mr Bett’s problems have been faced by many teachers in recent months due to TSC’s failure to remit third-party deductions.
The delays affect not just loan repayments but also statutory contributions to NSSF, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).
TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia acknowledged that the issue has been raised by teachers' trade unions — the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).
Dr Macharia indicated that resolving these issues was a precondition for calling off a planned strike scheduled to begin on August 26, 2024.
“The trade unions raised several issues, including the timely remittance of third-party deductions. We are addressing these concerns,” Dr Macharia said after a contentious meeting with the teachers unions including the Kenya Union of Special Needs Teachers (KUSNET).
In a joint statement, the unions expressed frustration, alleging that TSC remained evasive about the immediate remittance of all third-party deductions.
“The Commission was evasive on the immediate remittance of all third-party deductions. TSC has consistently acted in bad faith, causing a loss of trust,” said Mr Akello Misori and Mr Collins Oyuu, the Secretary Generals of Knut and Kuppet, respectively.
Mr Oyuu emphasized the unfortunate situation where teachers are being harassed by financial institutions due to TSC’s failure to remit deductions.
“The critical question is where the money deducted from teachers’ pay slips has gone,” he said in an interview.
Mr Misori said it was unfortunate that teachers were being threatened by auctioneers for the loans they were advanced by financial institutions which have not been paid, for defaults that are not of their making.
“Apart from the loans, the NSSF and NHIF dues which are statutory deductions have not been effected in the pay slips, but have not been remitted to the relevant institutions by TSC. It is a matter we cannot afford to sweep under the carpet,” Mr Misori said.
Teachers in public schools are set to commence their strikes when schools reopen on Monday next week for the third and last term of the year.
It comes at a time when learners in primary and secondary schools are expected to sit for exams to be administered by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC).
Top on the list of the contentious issues raised by teachers is the failure of the government to provide Sh13.3 billion for the implementation of phase two of the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which started on July 1, 2024.
The unions are also demanding TSC commence structured discussion on the implementation of the 2025-2029 CBA. They claim the Commission was still dilly-dallying on the issue.
Demands made by the unions include the promotion of 130,000 teachers who successfully attended promotional interviews in 2023, employment of 20,000 new teachers and transiting of terms for the 46,000 interns to permanent and pensionable, release of funds for the comprehensive medical cover.
