KNUT boss and Willis Otieno clash over teachers’ pay
By Aloys Michael, August 4, 2025A rare public clash unfolded at a burial ceremony in Siaya County, as Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu and Safina Party Deputy Leader Willis Otieno sharply differed on the recently signed 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for teachers.
The disagreement came on Monday, August 4, 2025, during speeches at the funeral of a retired educationist, where both leaders addressed teachers’ welfare in light of the newly negotiated deal with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
Oyuu defended the CBA, saying it represented progress in a tough economic climate.
“KNUT negotiated a CBA 2025/2029. This CBA had both a cash component and a non-monetary component,” he stated, insisting the union had achieved what was possible under the circumstances.
He urged teachers to appreciate the effort and keep pushing for more.
“We appreciate the little that was given to these teachers. We appreciate this greatly, and we want to behave like Oliver Twist, pick from the right-hand side and ask for more using the left-hand side,” Oyuu said.
However, lawyer and politician Willis Otieno criticised the agreement as inadequate and an insult to the teaching profession.
“Our teachers deserve better. The salary increment per teacher amounts to 200 shillings per teacher, which is a mockery to the role that teachers are playing,” Otieno argued.
He emphasised the importance of better pay in ensuring quality education.
“I urge our teachers to receive it, but must ask for more, because a better teacher, a well-enumerated teacher, guarantees a better student,” he said.
The CBA
Teachers across the country won big after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) inked a new deal worth Ksh33 billion.
In the new 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), teachers in the highest job group (D5) are set to earn up to Ksh167,415, marking a five per cent increase in their salaries.
The new salaries were the result of day-long crunch talks between TSC and the two teachers’ unions at the Kenya Institute of Special Education in Kasarani on Friday, July 18, 2025. In the meeting, union leaders and government representatives agreed on a 29.6 per cent increase for the lowest-paid teachers.
Under the deal, the lowest-paid teacher, currently earning around Ksh23,000, will see their pay rise to about Ksh29,000.
The increment will be implemented gradually, with the agreement projecting an annual salary adjustment budget of Ksh8.4 billion yearly, totalling Ksh33 billion at the end of the five-year cycle, which ends on June 30, 2029.