By Roy Hezron
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) elections are now in dilemma after the Secretary-General Wilson Sossion rejected the Ministry of Labour to oversee the exercise and instead opting for Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC).
In a letter to acting Labour Commissioner Ms. Hellen Apiyo dated June 22, 2021 Sossion accused the Commissioner of sabotaging the election process by conducting ‘illegal’ meetings regarding the elections, just hours after the ministry had given the go-ahead to hold the national delegates conference on June 25 and 26, 2021 (Friday and Saturday).
“I refer to your letter dated 22nd June, 2021 purporting to have had a briefing with my officials, a meeting of which i am not aware of as the Secretary General and which you yourself did not notify me about,” said Sossion in the letter.
He added,“This constitutes sabotage of electoral process by conducting illegal meetings related to elections that are not authorized nor agreed within the standard protocols.”
Sossion said the union would “appoint another government officer that is neutral and non-partisan like the IEBC” to oversee the exercise.
“We shall hereafter proceed and appoint another Government Officer that is neutral and non-partisan like the IEBC to supervise our elections as per our Constitution,” said Sossion in the letter.
The acting Commissioner had on the same day written to the union allowing it to proceed with elections, after the Ministry of Health gave green light after being satisfied with the measures put in place by the union to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“We take note that the Ministry of Health has no objection to the union proceeding with the in-person special delegates, conference as scheduled,” noted Apiyo in the letter.
She added : “Having also held a briefing meeting with your officials today June 22, 2021 on arrangements for the elections, I wish to confirm that your request has been duly noted and we will be available to preside over elections, as scheduled, for June 25 and 26, 2021.”
The Commissioner copied the letter to Registrar of Trade Unions, the Unions’ acting national Chairman Collins Oyuu and acting national treasurer Jared Ndiku.
Sossion’s move has further complicated the matter just days to the national elections which has been recently characterized by angry exchanges between him (Sossion), who at one point postponed the elections, and a section of top officials who want the exercise to go on.
The issue gained momentum when Sossion in a circular dated June 21, 2021 to all branches cancelled the in-person Special Delegates Conference citing that the Ministry of Health has discourage any form of physical meeting but instead recommended postponement or virtual meeting.
“We regret to inform you that the Ministry of Health has advised against a physical meeting and recommended that either the meeting be put on hold until the current Covid-19 situation is brought under control or alternatively we proceed with the conference through a hybrid model limiting to a maximum of 15 persons participating in person and all the others virtual,” stated Sossion in the Circular.
He proceeded, “The advisory automatically cancels any physical or in-person conference. Be advised as we consult on alternative ways of conducting the conference.”
A letter from the Ministry of Health’s Principal Secretary Susan Mochache to Sossion dated June 18, 2021 the Ministry had advised the union to put on hold on the proposed in person conference until the situation is under control, or adopting a hybrid conference with only key participants who should not be more than 15 attending physically while the rest to attend through virtual platforms.
But his deputy Hesbon Otieno, who also chairs the Knut Covid Protocol Committee, immediately wrote to the Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on the same June 21, 2021 saying there was no need to postpone the polls or go virtual since “voting would strictly be a ‘walk in, walk out’.”
“Delegates will remain in their buses until they are called upon to vote. And no campaigns will be entertained and strictly no posters will be allowed,” said Otieno.
Other measures that will be observed as cited by Otieno in the letter include voting being done in an open space, spending minimum time during voting, no night meetings to be conducted as delegates are directed to remain in the hotel rooms, and buses ferrying the delegates being directed to strictly adhere to the Covid-19 protocols.
On the Election Day, there will be no gathering or speeches on the nomination and voting day, each region being allocated its own time for voting which will be done per branch at a time, candidates to appear with their proposers and seconders only on the nomination day, each delegate to have his or her own pen among other guidelines.
And on the same day, Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache wrote back to the union, giving approval for in-person elections.
“The Ministry is in receipt of additional information on internal measures that the union has put in place to ensure adherence to Covid-19 guidelines and to reduce the risk of disease transmission. In our discussion, you clarified that the delegates will not be congregating. It will be a walk-in, walk out voting process and therefore, the issue of gathering does not arise,” noted Mochache in the letter to Sossion.
She added further that “In view of the above, the ministry has no objection to the union proceeding with the in-person special delegates’ conference.”
On the same day June 21, 2021 Sossion and Oyuu took on each other in angry exchange involving letters with Oyuu accusing Sossion of spending a day in the Ministry of Health headquarters pushing for the release of the letter to cancel a process he had involved in.
“You took a whole day in-person at the Ministry of Health Headquarters pushing for the release the letter cancelling a process you participated in,” noted Oyuu in the letter in part.
He added, “We wish to inform you that all the candidates are prepared for the in person physical elections apart from yourself and a few others who are not courageous enough to face the ballot.”
However, in a counter reply to Oyuu on the same day, Sossion told Oyuu that he has no powers to neither revoke nor issue circulars since the mandate is a signed to the office of the Secretary General.
“The Special Delegates Conference shall be conducted through special planning and all communications shall be executed by the Secretary General only,” noted Sossion in the letter in part.
A total of 1,878 delegates from eight regional branches are expected to vote.
The Central region was allocated 211 delegates, Coast 139, Eastern 392, Nairobi 43, North Eastern 25, Nyanza 327, Western 238 and Rift Valley 503.
