National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has called out the Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogambo over an acute shortage of teachers in rural areas.

In a statement on his official X account on Saturday, April 11, 2026, Wetang’ula demanded urgent action by the CS in addressing the imbalance through equitable staff distribution.

“Today, I raised serious concerns regarding the acute shortage of teachers in rural schools and called upon the Ministry of Education to urgently address this imbalance through equitable staff distribution,” Wetang’ula said.

Speaking while at St. Francis Kolongolo Girls Secondary School in Kwanza Constituency, the National Assembly Speaker has emphasised that the current shortage is unjustified, particularly in light of the 100,000 teachers already employed and the additional 20,000 more set to be recruited.

“I noted that although President Dr. William Ruto’s administration had improved the teacher-to-learner ratio significantly, it was unacceptable for Kolongolo Secondary and other rural schools to have a shortage of up to 28 teachers,” he explained.

On his part, Wetang’ula has called on CS Ogambo to ensure that teacher deployment is guided by fairness and need rather than personal preferences for urban postings.

Looming strike

His remarks come at a time when teachers have threatened to go on a nationwide strike beginning at the end of April 2026 if the government fails to address challenges with their medical cover and ongoing teacher shortages.

Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) officials in Bungoma County say the situation has become unbearable, particularly under the new medical scheme managed by the Social Health Authority (SHA).

While addressing a gathering in Kabuchai Constituency on Friday, April 3, 2026, the union leaders said access to healthcare remains limited, with only a few hospitals currently serving teachers in the whole county.

KUPPET representative in Bungoma, Ferdinand Wamalwa, warned that teachers will not hesitate to take industrial action if the issues are not resolved during the school holiday.

“Here in Bungoma, we only have three hospitals in the entire county that are treating our teachers. We have said next term, if this thing of SHA is not worked on, we are going to call for a very serious strike,” said Wamalwa.

“We will direct students to stay home as we embark on a total shutdown. We are giving the government this holiday to address the issue,” he added.