John S. Khabamba

Posts

Why TSC cannot Sack 44,000 intern teachers despite Court Ruling

Anxiety has gripped over 44,000 intern teachers after the Court of Appeal ruled that the internship program is illegal. While the commission still has a legal rebuttal window, the probability of those interns being sacked is almost zero, even in the absence of that litigation window. And here is why: Photo: A collage of Acting TSC Ceo and TSC offices. Credit :TSC Internship is a gateway to employment... The internship program, in its original form, is supposed to impart practical skills to future employees across different sectors of the government. The Public Service Commission has been running this internship program since time immemorial. However, the internship program at the Teacher Service Commission is one of a kind. It is not a normal internship program where people gain skills and are then released from the system after their period has elapsed. In TSC, the internship program is a gateway to permanent employment by the commission. So anyone employed under the intern...

Beyond the "Mimi ndio Sifuna" Hashtags, Sifuna Needs Political Backyard to Survive

Despite his meteoric rise in Kenya’s hardline opposition politics, Edwin Sifuna now stands at a defining political moment. His recent removal as Secretary-General of Orange Democratic Movement was not just an internal party adjustment. It signaled how quickly institutions can move against a leader who appears to be growing beyond comfortable limits. Photo: Embattled ODM Secretary General Addressing a political Gathering in Kitengela during Linda Mwananchi Rally Credit: Courtesy Though he has legally challenged the decision and managed, for now, to slow down the process, the real issue is bigger than a party title. It is about long-term survival. Sifuna has mastered the art of political messaging. The “Mimi ndio Sifuna” wave captured imagination, especially among urban youth. It portrayed confidence, defiance, and self-belief. Social media amplified him. The hashtags trended. The brand grew. But hashtags do not vote. Hashtags do not negotiate coalitions. And hashtags do not s...

Government Fails to Implement Day Wings in Major Boarding Schools

As the Grade 10 transition to senior schools nears completion, it has become evident that no fully boarding senior school has admitted day scholars. This is contrary to expectations arising from the government’s much-touted policy shift in grade 10 transition under the Competency-Based Education. In a bid to enhance accessibility to quality education, the Ministry of Education had indicated that purely boarding senior schools would be abolished. All senior schools, regardless of their clustering, were expected to allocate at least 10 per cent of their admissions to day scholars through the establishment of day wings. However, the policy appears to have remained more theoretical than practical. To date, the government has not released any data showing boarding senior schools that have implemented day wings or admitted day scholars. A quick spot check further reveals that the placement process did not accommodate day scholars at all. Official admission letters from major senio...

Government Bows to Pressure, Allows Parents to Pick Senior Schools of Choice

The Ministry of Education has moved to avert the Grade 10 placement crisis. In its latest press release, the Cabinet Secretary, Julius Ogamba, announced that parents will be able to seek transfers to new senior schools of their choice once the second revision window opens from 6th to 9th January. Ministry of Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba during the release of KJSEA Results on 11th December, 2025 Credit: Courtesy " The revision will provide parents, guardians and learners an opportunity to provide legitimate and verifiable grounds of reconsideration of the initial or revised placement... " stated the press statement in part. This move is intended to resolve the many rejected and pending requests that parents submitted after the release of placement results. Parents will be allowed to revise placements by seeking assistance from the target senior schools, a move aimed at easing pressure after widespread complaints about the rigidity of the automated system, which ...

Why Grade 10 Placement Transfer Requests Were Rejected

Thousands of Grade 10 transfer requests were rejected even before the transfer window was closed, much to the disappointment – and in some cases anger – of parents and learners. While the government maintains that there was never a guarantee that transfers would be approved, the scale of the rejections raises serious questions about how realistic the original placements were. PS Julius Bittok (on the left) consulting Education Secretary Julius Ogamba during the release of KJSEA Results on 11th December. Photo:Courtesy The official position is that placements were done strictly based on learners’ choices. We have even been told that a learner being placed in a day school more than 100 kilometres away from home was still the learner’s own choice. But if this is true, one question remains unanswered: Why would learners deliberately choose day schools located hundreds of kilometres from their homes, fully aware that placement in those schools was a real possibility? The answer ...

Why Babu Owino Cannot Simply Inherit ODM or the Luo Kingpin Mantle

Babu Owino cannot simply inherit ODM and automatically become the Luo kingpin the way someone inherits property or worse, a wife. Leadership in Luo politics has never worked that way. Photo: Embakasi East MP, Babu Owino consulting the late Raila Odinga In an event Raila Odinga did not inherit ODM. He fought for it. He endured detention, exile, betrayal and near-political death. His struggle resonated with the frustrations of the Luo community and with millions across the Republic. Over time, he became more than a politician — almost a cult-like figure whose authority flowed from sacrifice, not succession. It is therefore misleading for polls such as the recent Infotrack survey to casually position Babu Owino as the “next in line” to the ODM throne. ODM is not a monarchy. It is a movement built on struggle, not inheritance. The bigger danger is what such narratives do to the fragile post-Baba unity within the party. ODM is still in mourning politically. Its base is sti...