DP Ruto unseen hand in Knut wrangles – Weekly Citizen

Kenya National Union of Teachers will surely disintegrate unless quick and honest intervention is made to mend and address the sharp differences which are brewing among the top leadership of the union.
Weekly Citizen has information to the effect that the wrangles are also being fuelled by political strategists involved in Uhuru succession game.
The political strategists are capitalising on the current bad blood between Knut and the government to perfect their plans. It has now been established that the ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission and other arms of the government and politicians have planted traitors in the top leadership of the union in a bid to bring down the 62-year- old teachers’ umbrella union with the main agenda of crippling the union’s bargaining power. The politicians want to control and use it for 2022 elections. Knut secretary general is nominated ODM MP Wilson Sossion.
Sossion is one of the firebrand politicians from Kalenjin-land opposed to deputy president William Ruto presidential bid 2022.
He is of late close to Cotu secretary-general Francis Atwoli, the man also politically at war with Ruto. Atwoli has managed to lock Ruto inroads in the country’s unions, thus complicating his 2022 bid.

Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion and Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli.

Sossion troubles started when he led Knut into affiliating with Cotu (K). It is imperative to note that Knut’s 61st annual delegates conference, ADC on December 14 2018 where a resolution was made by the conference as the supreme decision making body of the union resolved that Knut reverts into affiliation with Cotu (K).
The 61st ADC was held at Bomas of Kenya and affiliation to Cotu (K) was a substantive agenda and the matter was widely discussed.
Pursuant to the decision made, Knut is said to have written officially to Cotu (K) informing of the conference decision as well as attaching the minutes of the conference in which the union formally requested Cotu (K) to accept Knut’s request for re-affiliation.
Knut letter was dated January 17 2019 referenced Knut/Cotu(K)/58/6/2019 and signed by the national chairman, secretary general and treasurer of the union and the content made a formal request for re-affiliation with an attachment of five paged documents being an extract of minutes of the 61st annual delegates conference meeting. Weekly Citizen is in possession of the said documents.
To readmit Knut back, Cotu (K) executive board met and formally accepted the request to affiliate Knut as the union after meeting minimum constitutional requirements for affiliation.
Fearing a Cotu and Knut force, strategists in Ruto camp have brought a section of teachers officials on their side with propaganda that Knut’s affiliation to Cotu(K) was singlehandedly done by Sossion.
Cotu (K) as a national labour centre has come out to dismiss the said rumours.
Cotu is concerned that the differences exhibited within the leadership of Knut are not in the interest of teachers they serve and cautioned the entire leadership of Knut against falling prey to divisive politics from external forces out to wreck the union and cause division among the teachers to weaken the union.
According to the records in our possession, the government has in the past on several occasions managed to divide teachers by the use of their own officials. This is a clear testimony following the formation of Kenya Union of Post Primary graduate teachers which has weakened the unity and bargaining power of teachers when it comes to demanding for their salary increments and other matters touching their welfare.
Members of the union have confessed that since the Knut treasurer John Matiang’i took over as the finance boss, the union has been entangled into serious wrangles resulting to some teachers being interdicted, sacked and demoted for defending the Knut constitution.

John Matiang’i

Sossion camp has labelled Matiang’i who is the younger brother of the Interior cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i as a mole in the union who was being used by the national government in weakening the union by leaking the union’s secrets to the government. Surprisingly, the young Matiang’i does not get on well with his elder brother on political matters.
Right now, there are two factions in the Knut top leadership, one led by the general secretary Sossion and the other one led by the national treasurer Matiang’i. The source confided that it was Matiang’i and his group who schemed with some senior officers in TSC and the ministry of Education on how to have Sossion deregistered from the TSC as a teacher.
After the TSC move, the anti-Sossion forces approached Ruto, through a close aide from Kisii based at Harambee Annex, Antony Kibagendi, and secretary of youth in the Office of the DP to help the funding to remove him.
Surprisingly, Kibagendi has been fighting CS Matiang’i but wining and dining with the CS brother, the political game being, if CS Matiang’i runs for the presidency, his own family member and brother will be used to decampaign him on grounds that he is not helpful to his own blood.

Kibagendi

Millions have been set aside to bribe Knut officials in all the 110 branches so as to overthrow Sossion from his position. It is claimed that Matiang’i and the deputy secretary general Hesbone Otieno are steering the committee which is out to oversee the toppling of Sossion. Otieno will then inherit Sossion’s seat. A member of the national executive council revealed that money was given to union officials countrywide so as to support the move to have Sossion deregistered. A meeting of all Knut officials from the Nyanza region was held in Kisumu last month where a resolution was made to reject Sossion as the secretary general, a resolution which some officials who are pro-Sossion rejected after pocketing the money which they were given. Teachers from Nyamira county have also strongly come out in defence of Sossion by rejecting the move by the TSC to deregister Sossion as a teacher. During an annual general meeting held at Kebirigo High School, the teachers who were led by branch Knut chairman, Kennedy Nyamwanda, unanimously agreed that Sossion was there to stay as their secretary general. Teachers vowed to remain behind the embattled Sossion, maintaining that he will have to serve his full term.
The teachers said that there is a scheme by a section in the Jubilee government to have the union silenced but warned the almighty God will not give peace to the schemers.
The Knut national officials who were led by first national vice chairman Collins Oyuu, the treasurer John Matiang’i, Nyamira Knut branch chairman who is also the national executive member Kennedy Nyamwanda and his branch executive secretary Kennedy Migosi watched as the teachers angrily came to the defence of Sossion.
Surprisingly, Knut chairman Wycliffe Omucheyi is said to be a key player in fighting Sossion but wants to play it safe.
Interestingly, Matiang’i did not even utter one word in defence of Sossion, an indication that he was the Judas Escariot in the union.

Sossion and KNUT chairman Omucheyi

The members and their officials said even though Sossion who is also serving as nominated MP was deregistered from the roll of teachers by TSC, he will remain the bonafide secretary general until the end of his term.
“TSC is seriously manipulating the teachers of this country in very inhumane ways. But even with the drama we are witnessing, we are solidly behind our SG and we will never relent,” Oyuu said.
They cited the labour relations Act with regard to the ongoing debate on whether Sossion should remain in office as SG even after he was deregistered by TSC.
“The law clearly says union officials need not be members of respective professional bodies they represent. There are those who left positions as officials of different unions and went to seek political seats but they again returned to assume their jobs as representatives,” Nyamwanda said.
Oyuu further said the manner in which TSC is operating is unprofessional and blamed its officials for particularly using bloggers to drive their own agenda.
“It’s disappointing that the teachers’ employer has resolved to use unorthodox means of addressing their frustrations using bloggers. Nowadays, very sensitive circulars and classified information is exclusively released by bloggers. Is this proper?” Oyuu posed.
However, Oyuu said the union is ready to dialogue with TSC over the various contentious issues which have pitted the two parties against each other.
“It should be a situation of give and take. That is the true spirit of the kind of negotiations we would like to engage in. Not a situation where bloggers are hired to assassinate our wellfounded intentions,” he said.
Nyamira Knut assistant executive secretary Evans Obiri on his part said the members and officials’ unity is solid and all are behind the secretary general.
Some of the issues they said were contentious and needed dialogue include promotion of teachers, withholding of union dues, and recovery of the salary gains teachers earned from the 2007 collective bargaining agreement.
TSC issued a circular that it will recover all the money that was paid as a result of the CBA which it outlawed through a court ruling.
“What a worker has earned, there is no way an employer can recall it. It is against the law,” Oyuu said.
Teachers say Sossion will determine his fate if those pushing for his removal will get the numbers during the national executive council meeting slated for August 29, this month.
Sossion together with Bomet Central MP Ronald Tonui are members of union and they are in parliament but war has been centered on Sossion alone.
As Sossion is fighting to survive from being ousted in his office, the 42 Nec members are expected to either stand with him or satisfy their pay masters greedy political machinations against him.
It is only in Rift valley with seven members of Nec where Sossion has no support of one member while in Nyanza with five members two are supporters of Sossion.
Sossion’s fate will be known on Thursday when the 42 members converge in Nairobi. Sossion is adamant he will not step aside.
A source who is a member of Nec said that out of the 42 Nec members in Central and North Eastern are all opposed to Sossion while Western and Coast are divided.
In what indicates that not all is well, Sossion posted a strong message in union Whatsapp group explaining to members that he had been committed to serving teachers and wondered why all the fight.
In an event that the group succeeds to evict Sossion from office, then the country will automatically lose the African seat that is currently held by Sossion as the president.
Political opponents are working day and night to see that Sossion is not in union any more so that they get an opportunity to destroy the strong union that Sossion has always defended to the hilt.
The secretary general who is ODM has stood his ground standing for teachers in union. He has fallen out with TSC with his name being struck in TSC register.
If Sossion is kicked out then, he will have no option but to champion teachers’ interest in the house since those pushing for his removal are politically motivated and well connected individuals.
Investigations revealed that Sossion who is facing rebellion by a section of national union members spearheaded by external forces is a man said to be prepared for anything.