A school teacher in Kakamega County has sued her employer for instituting disciplinary proceedings against her after she filed a complaint with the police accusing her colleague of assaulting and injuring her 13-year old child.
Ms Carolyne Khamali Mwayuli, a teacher at St Augustine Mukumu Boys School, claims that her Class Eight son survived death by a whisker after being beaten senseless. She filed her complaint at Khayega Police Station accusing the teachers of violating of her child’s rights.
In a suit filed at the Labour and Employment Court in Bungoma, Ms Mwiyuli, through Musyoka and Mogaka Advocates, accuses the school’s senior teacher Calystus Magotsi of canning her son and occasioning grievous harm on the child’s genitals, feet, legs and abdomen.
In the court papers, Ms Mwayuli says instead of dealing with the teacher, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) instead commenced disciplinary action against her.
After reporting the assault, Ms Mwiyuli says she was shocked when three days later she received a show-cause letter from TSC accusing her of insubordination. The letter, dated October 22, was signed by Kakamega East sub-county director Caren Ondhoro,.
“You witnessed as (name withheld) a class eight pupil was canned on October 19 in the head teacher’s office.”
In the court papers, Ms Mwayuli says the show-cause letter is misconceived, misdirected and meant to blackmail her to abandon and forsake her parental responsibility as spelt out in the Children’s Act.
“TSC has exceeded its statutory powers by dragging extra-contractual matters into a parental/school contract for educational services that are otherwise mutually exclusive,” she says in her affidavit.
She wants the court to quash the show-cause letter and TSC prohibited from requiring her to respond to the contents of the letter and taking any further steps in process commenced by the letter.
The matter will be mentioned on November 29 when TSC is expected to respond to the issues raised by the teacher.
