Leadership wrangles in the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have taken a new twist after Secretary-General Akelo Misori demanded the de-registration of its National Assistant Treasurer Ronald Tonui from the Register of KUPPET officials.
This latest development comes as the union is bracing for its Annual Delegates Conference (ADC) this Friday, December 20, 2024, at Sosa Cottage in Vihiga County.
According to a letter addressed to the Registrar of Trade Unions dated November 7, 2024, Misori alleges that Tonui is serving in the office irregularly and that the union cannot prove that he was re-elected into office.
“It has come to the union’s attention that Mr. Ronald Kiprotich Tonui, the union’s Assistant National Treasurer, is serving in the office irregularly. From our records, we have no proof that Mr Tonui was re-elected to his position during the Union Elections in 2016, upon the lapse of his tenure from 2011…Given the foregoing, we hereby demand that you strike Mr. Tonui off the Register of KUPPET officials with immediate effect, ” said Misori in the letter.
Misori further states in the letter that the union records also indicate that Tonui was barred from participating in the elections by the Employment and Labour Relations Court then, implying that the position remained vacant following those elections, and further appears in the Register of KUPPET officials from July 14, 2018, when there is no proof that elections were held on that date.
“Take note that it is his registration on July 14, 2018 which qualified him as a Delegate for re-election as Assistant National Treasurer of KUPPET in the 2021 Union Elections. This office asked Mr. Tonui to provide evidence of his election on July 14, 2018 or a court order reinstating him to the position of Assistant National Treasurer in lieu of elections, which he has failed to do,” added Misori.
Efforts of Education News to reach out to Tonui for a comment failed since none of our calls nor messages sent to him were responded to by the time of publishing this story.
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The emergence of the letter ahead of the union ADC has divided the delegates down the middle with insiders believing that this move by the Secretary-General is a direct attack on a man believed to be his main opponent in the upcoming 2026 union elections who might take the bull by its horns.
Initially, Tonui was also accused of forging a resignation letter for the Secretary-General a few days after the August strike, a matter that is still in court. Tonui like all other national officials in the National Executive Board was re-elected unopposed in 2021, by the delegates who voted online due to the COVID-19 rules.
By Roy Hezron.
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