By Malel Langat
Recent antagonism and boardroom wars that culminated in an attempt to oust KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion spell doom for the welfare of education in the country.
The acts by hired goons who prevented the KNUT boss from accessing his office and forcing him to leave marked the lowest point of trade union movement.
Succession wars have plunged KNUT members into fear that may leave scars and irreparable damage in the 60-year-old labour organisation
Sadly, those behind the bloodless coup are yet to explain to the membership of the trade union the reason behind their decision to suspend Sossion.
Teachers feel the coup leaders betrayed the mandate, vision and mission of the largest labour body for selfish interest.
Conventionally, union officials must fight for teachers not their stomach, as seems to be the reason behind the drama at KNUT.
Kenya National Union of Teachers mandate is to fight for teachers’ welfare. Sadly, the wrangles and infighting in KNUT is at the expense of teachers and marks the beginning of the union downfall.
Presently, teachers are facing serious professional challenges such as delocalisation, lack of promotion and performance contracting which the union should be agitating for.
In the grapevine, teachers widely believe that there is a hand of the establishment in the whole saga.
The infiltration of government in the union affairs to an extent of declaring the big shot persona non grata informs teachers that the wanton betrayal has found itself in KNUT.
Clearly, the union’s future is bleak, what has happened is shameful and soils the image, credibility and reliability of a union that has been basking in the glory of the labour movement.
Hired goons who literally took over KNUT House recently as Government security watched haplessly in spite of a court order shows that those who are supposed to enforce the orders are abating the rule of the jungle.
Naturally, the Inspector General of police Joseph Boinnet should have taken action to ensure law and order was observed which sadly did not happen in full glare of cameras as Kenyans watch the events unfold.
The million dollar questioned many Kenyans are asking is who sponsored the more than 30 men in black who blocked Sossion from gaining entry into his office?
If the trend of the lawlessness is allowed, then the union is slowly but surely losing its noble cause, moral standing and democratic ideals.
It is illegal for anyone to treat court orders like worthless papers as was witnessed.
From the beginning, it is a taunting task for the coup leaders as the negative effects of the coup trickles down to the individuals, teaching force and education in the country.
The regional support that the embattled Secretary General is getting is an indicator that there is light at the end of the tunnel for him.
And for those attempting to oust him they are going to have casualties in the long run.
The position of the Secretary General upon his nomination to Parliament was a scenario expected to transform the history of KNUT.
The past seven months or so has been marked by anxiety among teachers as the union crippled with a strange scenario coupled with succession crisis after the teachers employer, Labour Ministry and courts went for Sossion’s neck as they released letters deregistering, degazetting and courts trying to unravel mystery surrounding individuals holding two positions.
The manner in which the KNUT boss was shown the door remain an enigma in the union but it was agreeably not the most amicable gesture.
Teachers are aware that some officials are out to frustrate the smooth running of the union.
So what do they have to hide that made them to take over or topple the leadership through hook or crook?
Leadership must be made of conviction and mission.
The succession wars are an indication of lack of transparency and democracy in the national office.
Many teachers feel betrayed and do not understand why their colleagues in the leadership have accepted to be micro managed by the powers that be.
The national office according to members is soon yielding to state control, if a directive from the registrar of societies asking Sossion to call it a day is anything to go by.
By going to bed with the government, the union will pay the price for the state control will choke it.
Sossion’s recent ominous absence from the union best illustrates the acrimonious nature of the purge at KNUT House now and in the future.
It is feared that the trend might also be replicated in the branches.
It is also the sum of what aggrieved officials sees as a mixture of malicious vendetta and witch-hunting.
KNUT should change tact and reinvent itself as professional organisation.
It has veered off its original mandate.
KNUT should be concerned with ensuring that members access scholarships in the wake of an era where the Ministry of Education has banned school based studies.
It is disheartening that a lot is being slashed from the teachers basic salary to finance a union, yet it is members are witnessing unsightly events and scenarios.
Men in black in the head office are a total disgrace.
These shows reduce teachers who take pride in the professional to a laughing stock.
Let this be a wakeup call to the teaching fraternity that they need to democratise union by electing officials whose rallying call would be to uphold the mandate of the union and not those who are in office with the intent of lining their pocket or those who turn their backs on teachers and spent their machinations.
It is high time the KNUT house is cleansed, dusted and disinfected and the current national officials live by what they swore to the members to do or else history will charge them harshly.
Langat is the Executive Secretary KNUT Bomet branch.
