KNUT Narok Team Change dismisses opinion polls, accuses current leadership of bias

The Kenya National Union of Teachers KNUT Narok Team Change faction has dismissed opinion polls conducted on Wednesday, February 4, accusing the current branch leadership of manipulation and unfair practices ahead of the branch elections scheduled for March 7.

Speaking through their spokesperson Wilson Tololo, who is vying for the treasurer’s position in the KNUT Narok branch, team change claimed that the polls lacked credibility and neutrality.

They alleged that the WhatsApp group where the polls were conducted is administered by supporters of the current office holders who are popularly known ‘Two term team’.

According to Team Change, administrators of the forum allegedly removed members allied to team change while retaining aspirants aligned with the incumbent leadership, effectively turning the platform into a campaign tool for those seeking re-election.

The group further claimed that the teacher who created the opinion polls is directly linked to one of the aspirants, raising concerns over conflict of interest.

“If the intention was to conduct a credible and fair opinion poll, then the admin should be neutral and represent both sides. We are calling for an independent person to manage such forums and opinion polls,” said Tololo.

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The team also accused the current leadership of engaging in what they termed as electoral malpractices, including the use of abusive language, character assassination and alleged misuse of artificial intelligence to generate images portraying exaggerated teachers support.

Additionally, the faction claimed that the current Executive Secretary Simiren Soyiantet, in collaboration with a few bloggers, is influencing the transfer of selected aspirants to contest in Branch Executive Council (BEC) regions where they are not teachers, a move team change described as importation of leadership, particularly affecting women representative positions.

The group further questioned why the newly created Amalo Sub-County was excluded from the women representative region, alleging that the other regions were created without adequate consultation with teachers.

In response, team change is calling on the sitting office holders to organize a plenary session involving teachers from all zones and invite team change aspirants.

They say such a forum would allow all candidates to present and defend their agendas openly, while also subjecting the incumbents’ agendas to scrutiny.

The group reiterated that their agenda focuses on strengthening representation through the establishment of KNUT school representatives in all schools, ensuring equal service delivery to teachers across all zones, and introducing a monthly social welfare kitty to support teachers’ welfare.

Team Change insists that the upcoming elections should be conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner, emphasizing that the union belongs to teachers and not to individual office holders.

However at the time of going to press the current leadership had not responded to the allegation brought forth by Team change.

By Philip Koech