Sossion resigns to vie for Knut secretary general post

PHOTO/FILE Trade unionist Wilson Sossion (left) has resigned as national chairman of the Kenya National Union of Teachers. 

Trade unionist Wilson Sossion has resigned as national chairman of the Kenya National Union of Teachers and officially announced his bid for the secretary general's position.

Mr Sossion said he made the decision to contest following “great pressure from teachers countrywide.”

Speaking during the Bureti branch KNUT annual general meeting in Kericho County held at the Kabartegan Boys High School, Mr Sossion said he was responding to numerous requests both on national and social media to run for the top job and could no longer postpone his decision.

“I have consulted widely among my friends and family after having considered the pressure from teachers and I hereby vacate the office of the national chairman and announce that in the forthcoming Annual Delegates Conference, my name will be on the ballot paper for the office of the sixth National Secretary General of KNUT,” he said.

SPLIT THE UNION

The decision by Mr Sossion to run for the seat against the current acting Secretary General Mudzo Nzili from Coast region has split the union down the middle.

Mr Sossion called on Mr Nzili to reconsider his decision and run for the position of Chairman and joked that his decision to vacate the office had given Mr Nzili an opportunity to start acting in that capacity.

He praised KNUT as the biggest and strongest union in Eastern Africa, saying it had championed for the rights of teachers for the last 56 years, even as he promosed that he would “cripple” all other teacher unions if elected to the powerful position.

Mr Sossion described as prophets of doom those alleging that there were wrangles within the union, declaring that their arguments were false, and that their predictions that the huge trade union would crumble into pieces would come to naught.

“Some officials in government are living in fool’s paradise. This union is older than the government of Kenya and it will not break apart as some people expected it to after these coming elections,” he added.

He further noted that the last three years had been historic and active both for him and the union, recalling that it was the period during which the union battled against contract employment for teachers and forced the government to hire over 18,000 teachers permanently.

Mr Sossion joined the union leadership in 2001 after being elected by teachers in Bomet District branch as the Knut executive secretary.

He quickly went up the ranks, trouncing several opponents in 2007 to become the first vice chairman of Knut. In 2011, he was elected to the position of National Chairman.

He criticised those who had have continually said that his move to run for the position of Secretary General of Knut had been informed by his greed for money, adding further that the union would remain united even after the election which he said he was confident of victory.

“This is not about money, but the dignity and welfare of teachers and students of this country. It is also not about tyranny of numbers but the unity of purpose by teachers,” he added.

According to him, the darkest moment for the union was the death of Secretary General Okuta Osiany on the eve of this year’s strike aimed at equalising the allowances of teachers to those of other civil servants.

He recognised the efforts made by past Knut leaders who he added had been attacked several times and even jailed by state mechanism over the years.

DREAM TEAM

Mr Sossion unveiled members of his dream team who are also running alongside him for various positions in the union leadership. They include Samson Kaguma for the post of national chairman, Wycliffe Omuchayi (first vice chairman), Otieno Ogolla (second vice chairman) and Albunus Mutisya (national treasurer).

Two Members of Parliament joined more than 35 Knut branches from across the country Saturday in endorsing Sossion’s candidature for the top position. Knut has 110 branches countrywide.

Kericho County Women Representative Hellen Chepkwony and Bureti MP Leornard Sang, along with several Members of the Kericho County Assembly were present at the Kabartegan meeting.

“Sossion is a man and he has shown his exemplary leadership ability. Even the President and his deputy recognized this during the recently held teachers strike and that is why they invited him for private meetings, leading to the end of the strike,” said Mrs Chepkwony.

Mr Sang slammed as “analogue” an alleged historical gentleman’s agreement’ which shared out the top positions of the Knut among various regions and which has been in operation for years, with many opponents of Sossion’s bid often referring to this agreement in their argument that Mr Sossion ought to have left the secretary general’s position to Mr Nzili and retained his current seat.

This came as Knut leaders who attended the function gave Mr Nzili a 48-hour ultimatum to join the Sossion Camp and accept to run for the position of the Deputy Secretary General.

Mr Kaguma, who is running for the national chairmanship of Knut, told Mr Nzili to accept the position given to him by the Sossion group if he ‘did not want to go home’ failure to which his position would be given to someone else.

“If Nzili will not have joined us by Monday his position in the lineup will be taken over by Rosalia Muganjala, who also hails from the Coast region. We are confident of a landslide win,” he added.

This position was reiterated severally by other speakers who called on Mr Nzili to heed their calls and join them.

Mr Kaguma added that Mr Sossion had general support among teachers across the country for the top job, even as he joined the Bureti MP in calling for the abandonment of the years-old agreement, according to which Sossion would not be allowed to run for the position.

Nakuru County Executive Secretary Kuria Njau said the teachers in Kenya “were crying out” for the leadership of Mr Sossion, and called on members of the national Executive Council to back him.

The Secretary General position in Knut became vacant early this year following the death of Okuta Osiany. The current holder of that position, Xavier Nyamu, is on terminal leave and is set to retire in December 31 this year.

The date and venue of the union elections will be decided at the upcoming National Delegates Conference which will be held in November 7.

Mr Nyamu caused laughter at the meeting when he announced that opponents of Mr Sossion’s bid would not be allowed to speak, adding that only supporters of Mr Sossion’s camp were welcome to talk.