No Hope of Hiring JSS Teachers This Year - Treasury CS

The Cabinet Secretary for Treasury John Mbadi has announced that the government is unable to hire 20,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers on a permanent and pensionable basis in the current financial year, as anticipated. 

Speaking on Thursday, August 22, the CS said that because of a budget deficit, the government was unable to respond to the worries of JSS teachers.

"We don't have resources for recruiting JSS teachers on permanent and pensionable terms, and we do not have the resources for the additional 20,000 JSS teachers that were reduced in the estimates," Mbadi said during an interview.

"There is a shortfall of about Ksh13 billion. There is no money available for the conversation of JSS teachers unless we make budget adjustments, which we don't have space for," Mbadi said.

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President William Ruto in July announced a Ksh177 billion spending cut from the Kenyan budget after he withdrew the Finance Bill of 2024.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court's (ELRC) ordered the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to convert the internships to permanent and pensionable terms but the order was suspended by Justices Asike Makhandia, Sankale Ole Kantai, and Ngenye Macharia. 

In May, JSS teachers staged a 3-week nationwide strike that disrupted learning in schools. The TSC attempted to sack the striking teachers but later withdrew termination letters, and agreed to hire them on a permanent and pensionable basis from July 2024. 

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Food Crops Prices Likely to Cost Higher Due to Levy

Traders have warned that the government’s move to impose an import levy on food is likely to lead to a shortage and a sharp increase in food prices.

The Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) levied a two percent import tax on cereals, including maize, rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley and millet as well as legumes such as beans, peanuts and lentils as of Monday, July 1^st. 

Recently there have been reduced volumes of the food imports in the country with traders citing a high cost of doing business.

For instance, a trader importing goods worth Ksh10 million are required to pay Ksh200,000 hence the trader will be forced to sell their goods at a higher price to the consumers.

A decrease in rice imports was reported on Thursday by the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa), whose members clear cargo for traders at the Port of Mombasa, linked to the high cost of importation.

 "Rice importation has almost come to a stop. Volumes for other affected food crops have also gone down,” Roy Mwanthi, national chairman of Kifwa said in a statement. 

High taxes on food crops, in Kifwa's opinion, will decrease imports and possibly cause shortages and price increases.

“It is in this regard that we kindly call for immediate suspension of imposition of these levies so as to give room for inclusive consultations by all stakeholders,” he said.

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