Situation Update | May 2024

Kenya: The resurgence of teacher protests and infighting within civilian and security institutions

24 May 2024

Kenya at a Glance: 13 April to 17 May 2024

VITAL TRENDS

From 13 April to 17 May 2024, ACLED records 72 political violence events and 46 reported fatalities in Kenya. Most events took place in Nairobi, which saw 12 political violence events. Seven of these 12 violent events were connected with mob violence against suspected thieves.
Lamu, Nairobi, and Mandera counties had the highest number of reported fatalities, with at least nine reported in Lamu and at least five reported in both Nairobi and Mandera. The fatalities in Lamu and Mandera were linked to al-Shabaab attacks.
The most common event types during the reporting period were riots, with 38 recorded events, followed by battles, with 16 recorded events. The majority of riots were in Nairobi, with nine recorded events.

Infographic - Horn of Africa - Kenya situation update 13 April - 17 May 2024

The resurgence of teacher protests and infighting within civilian and security institutions

As protests by health workers continue in Kenya, intern teachers initiated their own wave of demonstrations in April and May. This new mobilization highlights other sectoral issues concerning pay, contracts, and worker status. These protests by intern teachers seeking job security and salaries illustrate the broader transition and financial and administrative crisis in Kenya’s education system.¹ Separately, there were sporadic fistfights between elected representatives in Muranga, Nairobi, and Nakuru county assemblies, while military and police clashed in a fistfight in Likoni, Mombasa, and a firefight and siege in Lodwar, Turkana. Such nationwide strikes and intra-governmental violence underscore the difficulties facing President William Ruto as he attempts to address economic grievances and build public confidence in Kenya’s politicians and security forces.²

Intern teachers hold demonstrations in southern Kenya

Since mid-April, the number of demonstrations by a group of Junior Secondary School (JSS) intern teachers has increased compared to last year’s demonstrations by the same protestors. The teachers demand that the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) pay them full salaries as permanent, pensionable employees in compliance with an order by the Employment and Labor Relations Court of Nairobi, which was issued on 17 April.³ The court found the TSC violated labor laws by employing student graduates as intern teachers rather than as employees and that the TSC did not have the constitutional power to hire teachers on internship contracts.⁴ The ruling came in response to a petition filed on the teachers’ behalf by the Forum on Good Governance and Human Rights on 29 November 2023.

In 2023, there were almost no JSS intern teacher-related demonstrations until around the petition’s filing in November. The demonstrations began on 26 November, three days before the petition was filed. Between 26 November 2023 and 9 January 2024, ACLED records 30 protests by the JSS teachers. The demonstrators are primarily demanding that the government honor their employment agreement in line with the petition. Driven by this uptick in events in late November and December, demonstrations by JSS intern teachers became over half of all teacher-related demonstrations in 2023 — 24 out of 47. Other teacher-related demonstrations often centered on low or delayed pay, insecurity in schools, or relations with government administrators that manage the schools.

However, there were no demonstrations by intern teachers in February or March 2024 while the court was reviewing the case. The court ruling on 17 April spurred a resurgence of activity: From 17 April to 17 May, ACLED records 78 demonstrations by JSS intern teachers across the country. These 78 additional demonstration events have more than doubled the 30 intern teacher demonstrations held between November and January (see graph below).

The JSS demonstrations have been held across southern Kenya since November in cities like Nairobi, Mombasa, and Eldoret, county capitals like Kakamega and Kiambu, and small provincial towns like Mukuyuni (Bungoma County) and Kabarnet (Baringo County). These demonstrations have remained peaceful and widespread across Kenya. They are also often joined by representatives of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), a union that has been active in other teacher-related demonstrations. KUPPET’s secretary-general demanded an immediate end to new TSC internship contracts and joined teachers in calling for the implementation of the ruling for the 46,000 teachers already on contracts.⁵

However, the government filed an appeal on 20 April, which put the ruling on hold despite the court labeling the appeal as “urgent.”⁶ Protests may continue in the short term as JSS teachers hold fast in their demands for enforcement of the ruling and cooperation from the government. On 13 May, the situation escalated from demonstrations around the country to a coordinated strike with accompanying demonstrations by JSS teachers, supported by KUPPET.⁷ This strike has delayed the beginning of second-term classes in Kenya’s JSS, despite the court ordering the teachers back to classes while it considers the appeal.⁸

Infighting between politicians and security forces

During the reporting period, there have been multiple incidents of violence between Kenyan political parties or violence between Kenyan security forces. These incidents highlight the often heated nature of Kenyan administration and politics.⁹ Issues of pay, promotion, and employment can become existential, partisan, and ultimately violent. In particular, there were three instances of members of various county assemblies engaging in physical violence against colleagues over issues of power and personnel. On 16 April, members of the Muranga County Assembly threw chairs and tables at each other during house proceedings in Muranga, shoving each other, assaulting a police officer, and destroying files and property over the ouster of two members of the County Assembly Service Board. One member of the assembly was injured, and damages reached up to 3 million shillings (around 22,900 US dollars). Members of the assembly had tabled a motion to remove the two members over nonpayment of salaries and began the fight when the two members presented a court order halting the motion.¹⁰

Further, on 23 April, members of the Nairobi County Assembly engaged in a fistfight during house proceedings in Nairobi over county-level leadership changes, with no reported injuries. The fight began over one member’s removal from his position as chair of the Water Committee.¹¹ That same day, Muranga police summoned six members of the Muranga County Assembly over the previous week’s fight in their assembly, and other assembly members demonstrated in support outside the police station. Yet another fistfight ensued in the chambers in Nakuru on 2 May over an impeachment motion against a Chief Executive Committee member. Police and other members of the Nakuru County Assembly broke up the fight, and an unknown number of people were taken to the hospital with injuries.

It is unclear why frequent infights — three — between the members of the county assemblies broke out just between 13 April and 17 May, whereas from 1 January 2023 to 12 April 2024, ACLED records only four such incidents. As these three incidents occurred in different assemblies and were unrelated, it is likely the uptick this month was coincidental and demonstrates an unpredictability in Kenyan political clashes.

Separately, on 27 April, more than five military officers clashed with police officers and private security guards at a ferry crossing in Likoni in Mombasa county after the soldiers blocked the crossing with their land cruiser. Two days later, military, police, and private security, joined by Kenya Ferry Services and Ports Authority officials, held a reconciliation meeting at the crossing. Similar to the spike in violence involving members of county assemblies, there were three battles between military and police just between 13 April and 17 May, while from 1 January 2023 to 12 April 2024, ACLED records only one such incident.

Violence between political actors and between security actors will likely continue sporadically and unpredictably, though battlegrounds for such clashes have historically emerged around the Kenyan elections.¹⁶ Though instances of factionalism, polarization, and inter-institutional rivalries in Kenya may undermine the government’s image and effectiveness, efforts such as the ferry crossing reconciliation demonstrate that intra-governmental mediation is possible.¹⁷