Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi has urged government officials to stop threatening teachers of humanities who are staging a nationwide sit-down strike over salary disparities with their science counterparts.

Speaking during Tuesday’s plenary sitting, Ssenyonyi cited reports of intimidation, including threats of arrest by local leaders.

“In the past, Rt Hon. Speaker, when there have been such strikes, government comes and they are intimidating these teachers,” Ssenyonyi said. “I saw today, the acting RDC of Kumi, a one James Kyomya. He has threatened to arrest all the teachers in Kumi who are on strike. That is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable.”

He further urged government to honor its earlier promises to teachers instead of lecturing them about patriotism.

“Government, you normally say, you teachers be patriotic, go and teach,” Ssenyonyi said. “Well, you be patriotic first by fulfilling the commitments you made to these teachers. It is an alarming issue. Government needs to tell us what are they doing about that right now.”

In response, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa assured Parliament that consultations were underway within the Ministry of Education to address the standoff.

“When I saw this issue, sometimes as the leadership of Parliament, we reach out to government to ask if they are able to comment on certain issues and update the House,” Tayebwa said.

“I reached out to the Minister for Education personally and she told me, there are consultations which they are making and they are going to update us.”

He noted that Parliament would be kept informed on the progress but did not provide a timeline.

“All of them are aimed at resolving the impasse,” Tayebwa added. “So, I am going to again cross check because we shall need this House to be updated. I totally agree with you.”

The strike, organized by the Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU), has paralyzed learning in several schools, with humanities teachers demanding that their salaries be raised to match those of science teachers.