Sossion speaks out amid claims KNUT Chairman Nzili was forced out

Sossion speaks out amid claims KNUT Chairman Nzili was forced out

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General, Wilson Sossion, has insisted that there is no split in the teachers union amid debate that outgoing chairman Mudzo Nzili had been forced out.

In a press briefing in Nairobi, Sossion on Sunday downplayed claims that the outgoing KNUT chairman had been kicked out, saying that the union had “exercised a lot of internal democracy” and had transited to a new chair within the confines of the teachers union laws.

“We don’t kick out anybody. We have got organised transition of leadership in the union, and all that is casted in the constitution of the Kenya National Union of Teachers. I would like to allay fears that there is a split in the union. In fact, there is a lot of constitutional order,” said Sossion.

The KNUT Secretary General also called on any aggrieved parties to either lodge a complaint with the teachers union leadership or resort to judicial means.

“If any citizen is aggrieved, he is free to complain to us as a leadership, or to move to court,” Sossion said.

Sossion was speaking a day after KNUT Chairman Mudzo Nzili was sent on a six-month terminal leave pending his retirement set for May 2018.

The two union leaders have been deemed to be at loggerheads since the August 8 General Election, after Sossion was nominated to parliament by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) whereas Nzili had supported the re-election of Jubilee Party candidate Uhuru Kenyatta.

The ODM-nominated MP also said that any issues arising within the union would be discussed during KNUT’s National Executive Council (NEC) retreat that is set to take place in Mombasa, from Tuesday (November 14) to Friday (November 17) .

“If there are issues that need to be thrashed, they will be discussed by the NEC this week,” said Sossion.

The NEC retreat will also discuss preparations for KNUT’s Annual Delegates Conference that is set to be held in mid December in Mombasa.

“We took it to Mombasa so that the outgoing national chairman (Nzili) shall be bid farewell by the delegates, and this decision (to hold it in Mombasa) was taken one year ago,” Sossion said.

KNUT’s 60th Anniversary celebrations

The delegates conference, which Sossion said would be a “colourful event”, is set to celebrate KNUT’s 60th anniversary as well as 50 years of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

“We know too well that the TSC has existed through the struggle of the teachers and so its golden jubilee is a major milestone for the teachers of this country and the teaching profession,” said Sossion.

A major issue set to be discussed at the delegates conference is the process of implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), with the KNUT Secretary General saying, “We are more focused on reducing the CBA cycles to two years to conform with the international labour standards, and ensuring there is consistent successful negotiations of CBAs in the future.”

Other issues to be discussed at the conference include promotion of teachers, enrolling of free secondary education and the employment of more teachers to match the anticipated upsurge in student enrollment.

“There can be no delivery of free education when there is acute shortage of teachers. Education begins with a teacher. School is a school, first, when there is presence of a teacher then you can start talking of classrooms and laboratories and other facilities,” said Sossion.

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tsc KNUT Wilson Sossion Teachers Service Commission Teachers Service Commission (TSC) KNUT Secretary General KNUT Chairman Mudzo Nzili Sossion insists Chairman Nzili's terminal leave legal

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