TSC quorum crisis ends as 2 approved
The National Assembly has approved the appointment of two members to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
Jamleck Muturi John was approved for the position of chair while Timon Alfred Oyucho will serve as a member, having been vetted by the Assembly’s Committee on Education.
The committee chair Florence Mutua said all the procedures for appointment were followed, even as she underscored the need to hasten the process since TSC does not have a quorum to operate.
“There are only two commissioners right now and cannot perform its duties because they do not have the required quorum so I beg the House to adopt this report so that TSC can have the required quorum to run its activities,” Mutua said when she presented the report to the House.
Next CBA
To achieve the quorum, the commission must have at least five commissioners out of the total nine.
She added that the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with teachers unions was coming to an end in June and the commission was expected to negotiate the next one.
Other pending issues that Mutua cited were promotion, placement and recruitment of teachers, which can only happen if the commission is properly constituted.
The House unanimously approved the nominees when Speaker Justin Muturi put out the question.
Earlier, the committee had a meeting with Public Service Commission (PSC) and TSC to seek an explanation on delayed appointment of seven more commissioners.
During the meeting chaired by Bomachoge Borabu MP Zadoc Ogutu, the MPs demanded the slots for Rift Valley, Western, Nairobi and Coast regions be advertised.
“It has been confirmed that within the next 14 days, the remaining five regions are going to be advertised to ensure TSC has achieved regional representation and that the voices of every part of the country is represented,” said Mutua.
Last year, only two positions – that of chairperson and member – were advertised.
The committee asked TSC Secretary Nancy Macharia to explain why the commission was running with only two commissioners.
“The Commission is part of the public service and we are supervised by the Head of Public Service,” said Macharia.
