"Mugomo wa waalimu" and the 'devil' within

"Goma" is a swahili word meaning downing the tools or not doing what one is supposed to do or as is tradition what they ought to do. In the recent weeks the Kenyan teachers have been in our headlines as they have refused to go to work unless their demands are met: a 50% pay rise. It has been a battle of wits and guts as the teacher’s union secretary general "Onion sauce" I mean Sossion has portrayed what any other leader would do, not budging to pressure until the teacher’s plight has been met. I remember when we were in school we had coined a name for this kind of sacrifice and it was "kukufia team" or "dying for the team" as it would be directly translated. This made the president of the republic adamant and he decided to show them how powerful he was and with this came the powerful phrase "we can’t and we won’t pay"

An Englishman once said that it takes two to "Tango" and currently with not a single spark to decency the battle between the Kenyan government and the teachers has been adulterated by the opposition who have vested interests to it.

A drowning man will clutch on a straw and as is typical of any opposition in the world we saw the not so bright side of the CORD coalition. Whoever is advising the coalition should hand back his degree to the university that he came from. For them to actually come up with the idea of fundraising to get funds to pay teachers it shows just how lack of intellect and creativity can affect a nation.

18 billion Kenyan shillings was the amount to be raised and 100,000 Kenyan shillings was the first contribution by the CORD principal. That is less than 0.1 % of the total expected amount the mathematicians can attest to that. I am yet to hear a word from the teachers to support the move I guess it’s because they are brighter than all this politicians and are actually embarrassed that they passed through their classes for lessons. A great disappointment is what it is.

So a few days after the declaration of the Mpesa paybill number and after realizing the satirical approach that they had employed, it dawned on them and they changed the story. The monies collected will now be used to pay legal fees for the teachers. The legal fees in question had already been paid and the crème de la crème of the top senior counsels had been acquired for this. So where will this money go?

I started by saying "Goma" is a swahili word. On the other hand it is also a native word in a number of indigenous Bantu tribes all over Africa meaning the "devil". It is the high time that we put our country in prayer as our enemy "goma" is roaming looking for someone to devour. Let’s also pray that the Teachers, Government and the courts will come to an amicable solution and resume teaching. "Fahali wawili wakipigana nyasi ndio huumia" our children are suffering intellectually.