Teachers sue TSC over discriminatory promotion list excluding tutors from arid regions

Teachers have sued the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for excluding candidates from at least nine counties—including Marsabit, Garissa, Isiolo, Wajir, and Lamu—from its 2024–2025 promotion list, calling the move discriminatory and unconstitutional.

In its petition, the Kenya Teachers in Hardship and Arid Areas Welfare Association (KETHAWA) claims the commission arbitrarily excluded 1,864 qualified teachers working in marginalised regions, violating their rights and weakening public service delivery.

The case, filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court, challenges the TSC’s decision to exclude teachers from hardship-designated counties—including Samburu, Marsabit, Garissa, Isiolo, Wajir, Lamu, Turkana, Mandera, and Tana River—from the list of over 25,000 teachers slated for promotion this financial year.

“The said implementation will result in discrimination against teachers serving in these historically marginalised areas, thereby violating the economic and social rights of the teachers, students and the communities they serve,” reads the petition.

Potential industrial unrest

The teachers argue that the exclusions not only amount to discrimination but will also likely cause “irreparable harm,” including demoralisation, disruption of public service in arid regions and potential industrial unrest.

KETHAWA is now seeking orders to suspend the implementation of the current promotion list and is pushing for judicial intervention to resolve the issue.

“The matter raises substantial constitutional questions of public interest affecting thousands of teachers and vulnerable populations in historically marginalised regions, which require urgent and immediate judicial intervention,” reads the petition.

The suit, which also lists the National Assembly and the Attorney General as the second and third respondents, was filed through lawyer Theddaos Okundi.

Teachers’ unions

Affected teachers also blamed teachers’ unions for failing to advocate on their behalf.

“We feel abandoned by unions, by institutions, and by those who should have stood for fairness,” Anthony Barasa Mabonga, who was speaking on behalf of the aggrieved teachers said.

The legal challenge comes against the backdrop of failed negotiations between TSC and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) over the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Talks stalemate

Talks held at the TSC headquarters in Nairobi last week ended in a stalemate after the commission reportedly rejected several key union demands, including a salary increment and improved allowances.

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KNUT has since issued a seven-day strike notice, warning of a nationwide teachers’ strike, should the commission fail to respond to their grievances.

“We are looking forward to the demands we gave. Teachers of Kenya are not prepared to receive a non-monetary CBA as it has been in the recent past,” Secretary General Collins Oyuu said during a press briefing following the collapse of the talks.

Among the demands tabled by KNUT are a 60 per cent minimum salary increment, a 30 per cent general rise in all allowances, and a clearly defined promotion framework, especially for non-administrative teachers.

Oyuu accused the TSC of deliberately avoiding engagement on the issues, despite the lapse of the previous CBA on June 30, 2025.