NAIROBI, Kenya – The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is facing sharp criticism from Members of Parliament over alleged ethnic and regional bias in the latest round of teacher promotions conducted in January, where more than 25,000 teachers were elevated.
Documents tabled before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Education laid bare concerns that the promotions disproportionately favored certain communities and regions, raising questions about fairness, transparency, and equity.
“We fight so hard as a committee to ensure that the TSC gets the requisite funding for teacher promotions every financial year. It would be unfortunate if fairness is not upheld in how promotions are distributed,” said committee chair Julius Melly, the MP for Tinderet.
The commissioners, alongside TSC CEO Nancy Macharia, came under pressure to explain significant disparities in the ethnic and regional distribution of the promotions.
Lawmakers accused the commission of promoting individuals based on ethnic affiliations and internal influence rather than merit and eligibility.
“I want to say this for your own information I was once forced to intervene because members wanted to bring a censure motion against this commission over these promotions. You have seven days to address this issue once and for all,” Melly declared.
An analysis of promotions by ethnicity showed that five ethnic groups accounted for more than 60% of the 25,252 total promotions.
The Kikuyu community received 4,668 promotions, followed by the Kalenjin (4,003), Luhya (3,148), Luo (2,388), and Kisii (1,923). Meanwhile, smaller and marginalized communities received minimal or no representation.
Sub-county analysis showed Samburu Central, Lamu West, and Tana Delta among those with the highest number of promotions.
Macharia defended the figures, stating that the TSC applied a flexible approach in staffing to address acute shortages, particularly in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs).
Further scrutiny revealed inconsistencies in how the eligibility criteria were applied.
Some teachers from underrepresented communities had served in the same grade for up to 7.5 years without promotion, while over 5,000 others were promoted despite not meeting the minimum required years of service.
Macharia explained that the reduction of the mandatory three-year requirement in some cases was meant to fill critical gaps in school leadership.
“For example, in grade D3 (for principals), the analysis showed there were not enough teachers in D2 who had served the required three years. In this regard, a waiver was granted, reducing the requirement to six months,” she said.
Igembe North MP Julius Taitumu alleged that the promotions were deliberately skewed to favor the interests of the commissioners themselves.
“It’s as if the promotions were shared between commissioners. If you want to know where they come from, just look at who got promoted!” Taitumu exclaimed.
Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera criticized the TSC for failing to provide comprehensive documentation, including the full criteria used and promotion records from the past three years.
“I want a full attachment of all promotions a list of all promoted teachers, the marks awarded, and their ethnicity. Without this, we cannot test fairness or equity,” Nabwera said.
Moiben MP Phylis Bartoo questioned why some sub-counties had almost all teachers promoted, while others had as few as four.
“I looked at the sub-county figures. One had a full roster promoted, while another only had four teachers elevated. Is it that there are no teachers or schools in that sub-county?” she asked.
Teso South MP Mary Emasse flagged errors in the data, noting duplication and misclassification.
“In Busia County, the analysis lists ‘Busia’ as a sub-county, yet it’s actually a county. Such errors undermine the credibility of the data,” she said.
The committee gave the TSC seven days to return with a comprehensive, transparent, and defensible report on the promotions including detailed breakdowns by region, sub-county, and ethnic representation
