3,500 Teachers To Miss Salaries For Falling To File Wealth Declarations

The Teachers Service Commission, TSC, has released a list of 3,500 teachers and staff who failed to file their 2019 wealth declarations.

The Commission boss said teachers and staff have been expunged from the TSC payroll until they meet certain set conditions according to a circular dated April 14, 2020

All TSC employees, just like other workers in the formal sector, were required to declare their 2017/2019 Income, Assets, and Liabilities by 31 December 2019 through the TSC Wealth Declaration online portal.

“Over 3,500 employees (secretariat staff and teachers) did not declare their Wealth within the stipulated deadline. Consequently, the Commission has stopped the employees’ salaries for Non-Compliance from March and April 2020 payrolls,” says the TSC Boss

All public officers are required to declare their wealth; periodically according to Kenyan law. This declaration is made online and there are hefty penalties for officers who fail to declare their income, assets, and liabilities within the stipulated time.

The Public Ethics Act of 2003, is mandatory for all public officers to declare their income, assets, and liabilities once every two years.

All teachers in the employment of TSC are required to declare their Income, Assets, and Liabilities. These include teachers on: Any kind of leave, Interdiction, Suspension, or Sick leave.

About 40,000 teachers had not submitted their returns, online, by December 30, 2019. This prompted the Commission to extend the deadline by one more week. Those affected were given the grace period to file their data between 8th – 14th January 2020

For the teachers and staff to be reinstated into the TSC payroll they will be required to write a letter through their immediate Supervisor/Headteacher/Principal to explain why they did not adhere to the instructions to declare their wealth as stipulated in the law.

School heads must also give evidence that the teacher is indeed in active service. Those affected will be hoping that the Commission will not take further action

“The Headteacher/Principal/Supervisor to confirm in writing that the employee has been in active service and /or has been teaching all along. The letter should be validated and forwarded to TSC Headquarters by the TSC County Director/TSC Sub-County,” adds the Commission.

Any teacher in the TSC employment who fails to submit a declaration or gives false or misleading information is liable to a fine of Kshs.1,000,000 or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year or both upon conviction.