National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has raised fresh concerns over the alleged sale of teaching jobs, claiming that some Teacher Service Commission (TSC) employment opportunities are being offered to job seekers for as much as Sh400,000.
Speaking in a clip circulating online, Wetangula alleged that some Members of Parliament receive teachers’ employment forms before they are allegedly passed on to desperate job seekers for money.
“The forms are received from State House and then they are sold to people who are looking for jobs,” Wetangula said.
Reports on the remarks have also described the alleged amount as Sh400,000. The allegations raise a fundamental question about the fairness and transparency of teacher recruitment in Kenya: Are teaching positions awarded to the most qualified candidates, or to those who can afford to pay?
Teaching jobs are highly sought after, with thousands of trained teachers competing for limited vacancies. If Wetangula’s allegations are substantiated, the reported practice would raise serious concerns about equal opportunity, accountability and the integrity of the recruitment process.
The claims also put the spotlight on the role of political figures in public-sector recruitment. Wetangula’s remarks suggest that some employment opportunities could be reaching politicians before the wider pool of qualified applicants.
This has created questions over whether recruitment is being conducted strictly on merit and established criteria.
However, the allegations have not, by themselves, established that teaching jobs are routinely sold for Sh400,000 or that all MPs are involved.
The key question now is whether qualified Kenyan teachers can compete for public jobs on a level playing field or whether money and political connections are becoming a determining factor in who gets employed.
