KILIFI, Kenya – The government is reviewing and harmonising all hardship areas across the country to create a central registry that will guide the payment of hardship allowances for teachers and other public servants.
Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba said the move is intended to eliminate inconsistencies that have long caused disputes between government agencies over which areas qualify for hardship pay.
“There was an issue of gazetting all hardship areas and we said let us do it for the proper payment of hardship allowances… Sometimes you will find the same area under the TSC is not gazetted as a hardship area but is gazetted under the public service, and that brings conflict,” Ogamba said during Citizen TV’s Elimu Mashinani segment in Kilifi on Tuesday.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that the registry will serve as the single point of reference for defining hardship zones, ensuring allowances are harmonised across the board.
Kilifi’s education challenges under spotlight
The discussion came against the backdrop of poor performance in Kilifi County in the 2024 KCSE results, where only two students scored straight As, while nearly half of the candidates earned D+ and below.
Principal Secretary for Basic Education Julius Bitok admitted that the county faces systemic barriers to education, describing Kilifi as “largely a hardship area.”
“Some of the reasons for poor performance include long distances between schools, poverty, cultural practices, and early marriages. We have some homework to do in Kilifi,” Dr. Bitok said.
Teachers’ union wary of changes
The harmonisation exercise comes months after the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) opposed a government plan to review 44 hardship zones, warning that the move could slash allowances.
KUPPET has insisted that hardship pay is a hard-fought entitlement secured through collective bargaining agreements and has threatened legal action if the review undermines teachers’ benefits.
