Ruto hosts British Ambassador in Kisumu

By Peter Ochieng

The Kisumu State Lodge has been a beehive of activity, since President William Ruto and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua started their tour of Nyanza on Wednesday.

The four-day visit is expected to end on Saturday in Kisumu County, having been in Migori on Wednesday, Homabay on Thursday and Siaya on Friday for the launch of various development projects.

Before leaving for Siaya on Friday, the Head of State hosted British High Commissioner to Kenya, Neil Wigan at the Kisumu State Lodge.

“Kenya and Britain enjoy deep, robust and historical diplomatic ties centred on economic, cultural and people-to-people ties. This relationship has had a tremendous impact on many spheres of our citizens and nations,” said the President after the meeting.

Unlike the previous visits where he encountered hostile crowds like in 2021 when he was attacked in Kondele during campaigns (Ruto was Deputy President), he has received overwhelming support, having backed ODM party leader Raila Odinga’s bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship.

During his Town Hall session on Thursday evening – the first in Kisumu, President Ruto urged secondary school teachers to reconsider their decision to strike, stating that the government has provided the necessary resources to fulfil their demands.

He assured the teachers, aligned to the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), that funds have been allocated to meet the terms agreed upon in the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), between them and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

“Some unions want to incite teachers to go on strike on a matter that we have already sorted. We have allocated money for the CBA negotiated between the TSC and teachers,” he noted.

Acknowledging the challenge of teacher shortage in the country, the President explained the government’s decision to hire teacher interns rather than offering them jobs on permanent and pensionable terms.

“We have a big shortage of teachers and we also have a big pool of trained teachers and schools that have no teachers. If I had decided to hire teachers on permanent and pensionable terms, I could only have employed 12,000 or 13,000. Instead, I chose to hire this large pool of unemployed teachers as interns, with the guarantee that after two years of internship, they will secure permanent and pensionable positions.”

The teachers strike entered its day on Friday, with teachers vowing to remain put until their grievances are conclusively addressed.