Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Migori branch Executive Secretary Samuel Orwa Jasolo has declared his interest in running for a national seat during the Union’s 2026 national elections.
Jasolo, who is the first branch official to declare the grand ambitions, urged fellow officials to support the pro-rata policy adding that it will improve representation in the union.
He was speaking to Education News in an interview on January 14, 2024, regarding the ongoing introduction of pro-rata policy debate among KUPPET members.
The KUPPET boss revealed that he has been coerced to go for the national seat after pressure from teachers and delegates, and he is still consulting them on the most suitable position. However, he did not hesitate to add that he will be taking the bull by its horns.
Jasolo, who was at one point among branch officials removed from the union payroll by the Union leadership in 2021 for publicly opposing Teacher Professional Development (TPD), urged his colleagues to look at pro-rata objectively and de-link it from other issues such as retirement age.
“We need to delink that debate of pro-rata from other things like the retirement age because pro-rata does not talk about retirement age, it does not talk about qualifications to run; it is just about proportionate representation; if we can look at it objectively, it is not a bad thing in my view,” he said.
“I will be running for a national office in 2026. So I cannot support anything that is going to block me, I don’t think there is anybody who intends to block anyone; we just want good representation at the national level,” he added.
According to Jasolo, KUPPET started as a very small union and has grown bigger, and the constitution being used was developed when there were less than 30,000 members compared to over 160,000 members now.
He said that the premise calls for changes and the introduction of newer concepts that will ensure adequate representation of members; which will be addressed by the new policy.
“It simply means proportionate allocation, and it has something to do with how many members one has and similarly how many delegates one is supposed to bring in terms of representation. One cannot say they have 100 members being represented by 10 delegates while another says they have 10,000 members who are also being represented by 10 delegates as well. That is not proportionate,” he said.
Jasolo reiterated the need to have more representation in terms of delegates to elect national officials, stating that pro-rata is neither intended to keep certain national officials in power nor increase their age limit.
“Some members are thinking that this amendment is meant to block somebody from contesting. My message to them is they should distinguish the pro-rata debate from other debates that might be used by other people to protect themselves from office. I don’t think that is the idea of pro-rata. Pro-rata is used nationwide; it is even used in the international conference,” said Jasolo.
He explained that they are trying to look at how the policy is working in other unions and how it could be adapted in the Union.
Jasolo downplayed the fear that the policy is going to reduce the number of delegates for small branches stating that currently all branches are represented by 10 delegates regardless of the number of members in the branch, which he stressed is not proportionate enough.
By Roy Hezron
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