Wamuzi News Ke
Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Dr. Nancy Macharia has taken terminal leave a month ahead of her official retirement, ending a controversial decade that transformed, divided, and electrified Kenya’s education system.
A memo dated June 1 confirmed Macharia’s early departure. In her own words, “I begin my terminal leave today, June 1, 2025, ahead of my retirement on June 30.” The abrupt exit marks the close of one of the most debated leadership chapters in the history of the TSC.
Enter the Interim Boss
As the clock ticks toward a new leadership era, Evaleen Mitei has been named acting CEO while the nation awaits the naming of a permanent replacement. All eyes are now on who will take the reins of a commission that Macharia reshaped—sometimes with praise, sometimes with protest.
A Reformer or a Ruler?
Since assuming office in 2015, replacing Gabriel Lengoiboni, Dr. Macharia led sweeping reforms that redefined how teachers are hired, promoted, and evaluated. Her administration hired over 100,000 teachers, negotiated two Collective Bargaining Agreements, and introduced automated promotions—catapulting 168,389 teachers to higher job groups based on performance.
She launched the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and Career Progression Guidelines (CPGs), enabling nearly 74,000 educators to climb the professional ladder. Under her watch, the TSC also rolled out tech upgrades that allowed teachers to exit unions with a click—an innovation that would soon send tremors through the labor landscape.
Union Wars and Broken Trust
Despite the achievements, Macharia’s tenure was anything but smooth. A Sh54 billion deal signed with KNUT and KUPPET in 2017 quickly unraveled. Unions accused her of weaponizing the agreement to push through draconian policies. Career Progression Guidelines and Teacher Appraisal systems were slammed as exclusionary and overly bureaucratic.
Veteran teachers felt sidelined. Others were outraged by the Sh6,000 annual cost of retraining, not to mention the mandatory five-year practice license renewal. Tensions peaked in 2019 when a court ruled the CPG system illegal for KNUT members—Macharia retaliated by freezing their salary increments.
This move split the teaching fraternity down the middle. Over 103,000 unionized teachers watched as their non-union colleagues received pay rises. The TSC then went a step further—threatening to claw back benefits paid since 2017.
In what many described as the death blow to organized labor in education, a new online system empowered teachers to abandon KNUT with a single click. Over 150,000 did exactly that. The once-mighty 52-year-old partnership between TSC and KNUT now lies in tatters.
A Union in Turmoil
The fallout was severe. Wilson Sossion, the fiery KNUT Secretary-General, was struck from the TSC’s register in 2020, rendering him ineligible for union leadership. His ouster sparked chaos within the union and triggered a leadership crisis that has yet to fully recover.
The Delocalization Debacle
In 2018, Macharia introduced the controversial delocalization policy, uprooting headteachers and principals from their home counties in a bid to promote national unity. Instead, the move shattered families, triggered community backlash, and saw the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) label it a “morale-killing disaster.”
Legacy in the Balance
Dr. Nancy Macharia exits the scene with a mixed legacy: hailed by some as a fearless reformer who dragged a sluggish system into the digital age, and condemned by others as a top-down technocrat who bulldozed policies with little regard for teacher welfare.
In her farewell note, Macharia expressed heartfelt gratitude. “I leave with deep appreciation for what we achieved together,” she wrote.
As Kenya watches and waits, one question hangs heavy in the air—was Macharia the architect of progress, or the author of a divided profession?
