By Roy Hezron
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has finally bowed to pressure from some top union officials and issued a notice on the union’s Annual Delegates Conference (ADC)
In a circular to all branch Executive Secretaries dated April 22, 2021, Sossion has instructed Branch Executive Committee (BEC) to urgently convene meetings to nominate delegates who will attend the ADC.
He did not however name the date and venue of the national conference stating that those details would be communicated later.
“This Notice is therefore meant to guide branches to adequately prepare for the ADC and all organs of the Union to effectively play their roles in ensuring a successful ADC,” said Sossion in the circular.
Sossion told the branch officials that the union was undergoing a financial crisis arising from a raid of its coffers by the Teachers Service Commisssion (TSC)but stated that they were liaising with partners both locally and internationally in order to mobilize resources to conduct the crucial meeting.
“We are currently in a bad financial state following the attack on our check-off system by the Teachers Service Commission/Government and so we are liaising with partners locally and internationally to mobilise resources to enable us hold the ADC successfully,” Said Sossion in the letter addressed to the TSC, Acting Union Chairman, National Treasurer, all branch officials and the relevant Government labour agencies..
Sossion said the major agenda of the ADC will be elections to fill positions of members of the National Steering Committee and National Executive Council and adoption of various reports for urgent resolutions by the ADC.
Sossion has further asked each region to nominate one candidate for every NEC slot as per the union tradition in order to reduce confusion at the ADC.
“Regional Councils that have not convened should do so to organize their regions and strictly nominate one candidate for every NEC slot as is the custom and practice of KNUT to reduce confusion at the ADC,” advise Sossion.
He directed further that “The nominees of the Regional Councils to the NEC positions shall be forwarded to the office of the Secretary General together with the minutes of the Regional Councils.”
According to KNUT Constitution, notice regarding the ADC should be issued at least two months before the conference and further requires that delegates who will participate in the conference be elected by Branch Executive Councils whereby, top officers of the branches that is branch executive secretaries, chairpersons, treasurers, women representatives, representative of people living with disabilities and BECs; are automatic delegates depending on the number of delegates allocated to each branch.
The union is going to the election as its membership has reduced from over 180, 000 members to less than 30,000 members with the current acting national chairman Collins Oyuu accusing Sossion of orchestrating the current woes facing the union.
