- KNUT Trans Nzoia officials have accused TSC of forcibly transferring teachers to KUPPET without their consent following JSS deployment.
- Branch leaders have named several affected members and have demanded that TSC reverse the alleged unauthorised union transfers.
- KNUT has also questioned why welfare deductions are automatic for KUPPET members while KNUT members must separately enrol in the Burial and Benevolent Scheme.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is facing accusations of forcing teachers in Trans Nzoia to abandon the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) for the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) without their consent.
KNUT Trans Nzoia Executive Secretary George Wanjala Simiyu said teachers who opted to remain members of KNUT after being deployed to junior secondary schools were shocked to discover changes in their union deductions when they checked their payslips.
“The forced movement has affected several teachers, including our Branch Chairman Wilberforce Wamalwa, Kiminini Branch Executive Committee member Anthony Malemo, Central BEC member Sylvia Mbugua and Junior School BEC member Mark Mugire,” Simiyu said at the KNUT offices in Kitale.
He said the dispute largely involves teachers who were trained and initially employed to teach in primary schools before being deployed to junior secondary schools. According to Simiyu, deployment to junior secondary schools should not automatically determine a teacher’s trade union affiliation. “Our union is the Kenya National Union of Teachers. It is a union of all teachers,” he said, arguing that teachers serving in primary, junior and senior schools should be free to choose their preferred union.
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Simiyu questioned the basis for changing teachers’ union deductions through the TSC payroll system without their consent, saying teachers who had voluntarily subscribed to KNUT should be allowed to retain their membership.
KNUT Trans Nzoia Branch Chairman Wilberforce Wamalwa gave the commission a short window to address the dispute and reverse the alleged transfers. “We are asking the Teachers Service Commission to reverse that decision. We believe there is a deliberate scheme to frustrate KNUT while giving KUPPET preferential treatment in union matters, and we will not be party to it,” Wamalwa said.
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The union officials have also questioned why the TSC automatically deducts welfare contributions from teachers who join KUPPET, while those who join KNUT must take an additional step to enrol in the union’s Burial and Benevolent Scheme before welfare deductions can take effect.
By John Oroni
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