The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers KUPPET 26th edition, forthcoming polls is facing an acid test of leadership composition should the results not cover the gender rule criteria, following 500% increased nomination fees that is being contested by aspirants.
The aspirants, mostly women, have expressed the fear of not being able to raise the new fees, leaving the exercise to a men-only affair that could attract legality of the union’s leadership.
According to the new fees structure, a candidate for the branch executive seat will have to part with Ksh 200,000 up from Ksh 50,000 while the positions of the chair and treasurer will attract a fee of Ksh 100,000. Aspirants for the rest of branch posts will pay Ksh 50,000 up from Ksh 10,000.
Aspirants eyeing various posts within the Trans Nzoia branch polls set for February next year have raised an alarm over the new nominations perks terming them as unaffordable and unjustifiable to most women aspirants and called for their review.
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They said should the new fees be implemented, the trade movement for the teachers will be left for a few rich individuals to manipulate the ideals and goals of the union.
“Just imagine a classroom teacher earning a salary below Ksh 50,000 forking out Ksh 100,000, leave alone the campaign expenses. This is untenable for an ordinary teacher who would otherwise be elected to deliver effective representation’’, said a group of aspirants in Kitale town.
“These fees can only be raised by teacher retirees earning pension and other cartels. It is a sad state of affair for a teacher who is really committed to joining the union’s leadership to be denied the opportunity only because he/she cannot raise the nominations fee”, they added.
They wondered how a non-teaching person and retirees can effectively and actively advocate for the welfare of teachers, referring to the case pending in the High Court over the contentious delimitation of teachers aged above 60 years to be eligible to contest for the KUPPET elections.
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Saying the nomination fees were ratified without the participation of the entire membership of the union, the aspirants claimed that that the resolutions did not take into consideration of teachers from the Junior Secondary schools yearning to subscribe to the trade movement as members.
They noted that Trans Nzoia as a cosmopolitan county, they expected the local line-up to embrace to reflect the Kenya Kwanza government by absorbing officials from all the local communities.
For the first time, a woman aspirant Juliana Miheso has declared interest in the branch vice-chairperson in leadership that has been dominated by men since the inception of the union over the last decades.
The Executive Secretary Furaha Lusweti who has served as the pioneer as well as the chair Eliud Wafula will not be vying after clocking 60 years but the two could sigh a relief should the High Court rule against age limit as prayed by the KUPPET national officials.
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Lusweti’s Assistant Martin Wafula is set to battle it out with Paul Weyama and Dan Kutai to succeed him as Martin Tum strives to become the new chair. The treasurer Maxwell Nyangeri will be defending his first term against the duo of Andrew Chelagat and Edwin Prichan.
Attention is being focused on the chair of the about 900-member Mulembe Teachers Welfare group Geoffrey Walubengo who is yearning for the Assistant Executive secretary portfolio. It is said Walubengo could tilt the numbers towards his camp should he convince his members for support.
The Secretary gender Immaculate Cheserem is defending her seat against a host opponents as well as the Organizing Secretary Francis Wanyonyi who is facing stiff opposition from Aron Kimtai from St Josephs’ Boys’ National School.
The secretary for the secondary section has attracted the largest number contestants who include Cecilia Nasimiyu, Jusper Tubei, John Alex, Paul Wamalwa and Edwin Wekesa.
In the 2021 polls, four seats were set for the women nominees to strike for the gender balance and it is expected that the same will apply in the 2026 polls, leading to women aspirants preferring to pull away from elective posts.
Miheso will be the first woman to take on men and rise to the top branch level but she will first have to fight off David Anyira who has shelved his ambition for the chair and instead go for the vice-chair. The women have always been selected for the affirmative positions.
The number of women aspirants has increased two-fold compared to the last elections, courtesy to what Miheso said were efforts to bring on board women teachers as the majority to vote as a group.
BY ABISAI AMUGUNE
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