Author: Hezron Rooy

Government Announces Fee Service Exemption for E-Citizen School Fees Payment Immigration and Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok has defended the e-citizen fee payment platform, stating that individuals who pay fees through the platform will be immune from service fees. “Parents will not pay the Sh50 service fee; all other government services have to pay the service fee, but for payment of fees, they will not pay the service fee,” he said. The PS emphasized the government’s commitment to leveraging technology to increase efficiency, assuring the committee that the platform was meant to provide real-time transfers of cash to school accounts,…

MPs Oppose Ruto’s Directive on School Fees Payment via E-Citizen Platform President William Ruto suffered a setback when MPs opposed a directive forcing parents to pay school fees via the e-Citizen platform. The scheme, which had already been suspended by a court order, drew sharp condemnation from legislators, who claimed it would place an unnecessary financial burden on parents and potentially disrupt operations owing to delays in accessing funds. During a meeting with Immigration and Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok yesterday, the National Assembly Committee on Education expressed concerns over the intention to collect fees through the government portal. Vice…

Gov’t to Monetize National Drama Performances: Results and Winners During the winner’s gala, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu announced that the government had implemented measures to digitize and monetize performances. “CBC is geared towards mainstream creative arts as one of the major pathways in the curriculum,” he said. Charles Ong’ondo, CEO of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, reported that online platforms hosting the fete’s productions have already raised over Sh1 million. “This year, we had over 23,000 participants compared to 15,000 last year, indicating a significant increase,” stated Festival National Chairman CJ Odhiambo.President William Ruto will greet winners at a…

Ruto’s Affordable Housing Dilemma Takes Center Stage at Kenya National Drama and Film Festival The Kenya Kwanza administration’s contentious affordable housing initiative has found its way onto the stage of the ongoing Kenya National Drama and Film Festival, with appeals for the project’s compassionate implementation.  Kitale National Polytechnic’s performance of the choral verse Nguzo wa Uchumi (Economics Fundamentals) depicts a government that conducts forced evictions with insensitivity and lack of empathy for its citizens. Isaac Anyolo wrote the verse, which criticizes the government for leaving people homeless in the name of constructing inexpensive housing. This work aims to take a…

Why Allowances for Public Servants Are Higher Than Basic Salaries Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Gladys Shollei explains why public servants receive higher allowances than their base monthly salaries. According to Shollei, the system has long been ingrained in Kenyan history and was developed as a preventative measure to protect the government from increased pensionable liabilities. At one point, the government did not want to take on too much responsibility for pensions. So, instead of boosting your basic pay, they decided to add allowances to reduce the strain on the pension. “When people started saying there were too many…

Ministry of Education Makes Performing Arts Compulsory Subject in CBC syllabus Ezekiel Machogu, the Education Cabinet Secretary, has announced that performing arts will henceforth be mandatory in the Competency-Based Curriculum. Speaking at Kangaru Girls High School in Embu County as he presided over the Kenya National Drama and Music Festivals, Mr Machogu emphasized that the performing arts have been included in the CBC and would be taught from pre-primary to tertiary levels. Furthermore, he stated that all schools will be expected to participate in the performing arts competition. He remarked that Kenyan children are extremely brilliant in drama and music,…

KUPPET – TSC Talks On Compensation of Acting Administrators Fails The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) lobbied the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) about the high number of teachers who act in administrative positions without compensation.  The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Circulars, according to TSC, abolished acting positions, making them non-compensable, so the parties were unable to agree on how to compensate teachers for acting appointments. KUPPET claimed that the teacher’s employer was breaking the law by employing acting administrators without compensating them, and stated that the union’s legal team would consider filing a formal demand to…

KUPPET Defends TSC Amid Mounting Pressure on Teacher Insecurity in Insecure Regions According to the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), the increasing incidences of teacher insecurity in some areas extend beyond the Teachers Service Commission’s jurisdiction.  With tens of teachers in Baringo and North Eastern seeking transfers from unfriendly regions, the union has urged the Ministry of Interior to handle the matter immediately. Tens of instructors in North Eastern have refused to return to work in recent years, and growing insecurity has forced the closure of some schools in Baringo. In the past, terrorist and bandit attacks have…

UASU Targets Machogu Over Tribalism in Public University Council Appointments The University Academic Staff Union (UASU) has criticized Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu’s recent appointments to universities.  Onesmus Mutio, Uasu National Organising Secretary, accused Machogu of using tribalism to select members of the public university council.  He argued that the CS’s actions must be condemned because they risk entrenching tribalism in higher education institutions. Mutio, the Secretary General of Multi-Media University (MMU), has called for immediate action to rid campuses of tribalism. He was reacting to Dr. Angelica Obaga’s appointment to the Multimedia University Council on April 5. Machogu appointed…

CS Machogu Recruiting East African Neighbors for Regional Drama Festival Machogu praised Kenya’s drama and film festivals for raising quality over the years and stated that his ministry is working with other sectors to expand Kenya’s creative arts industry worldwide. “We are combining efforts to further grow this reality that we have today so that these young people, with the talents they have, can even go to the international level,” he went on to say. Machogu hinted that they are recruiting neighbors in East Africa to establish drama festivals in their nations and to expand it to a regional activity…