During the last KNUT General Elections, Martin Enriko Sembelo was overwhelmingly elected as the KNUT Executive Secretary for the West Pokot Branch.
In the 2026 KNUT General Elections, he was voted out of the same position he had sought a third term for.
Several interrelated factors contributed to his defeat.
First, the wave sweeping long-time, long-serving KNUT officials appears to be spreading across some branches in Kenya.
Second, teachers believed that Sembelo had outlived his usefulness, as he was past 60 years.
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Third, the narrative that he was a retired teacher, as he was popularly referred to, spread like a bushfire across the teaching fraternity in the county.
Fourth, the narrative of electing a classroom teacher who interacts with teachers on the ground floor also contributed to his downfall.
Fifth, the assumption that he could easily retain the seat without reaching out to teachers in some parts of the county also contributed to his losing the position.
Sixth, teachers yearned for new blood in KNUT leadership, which greatly favoured Dorcas Cheyech Lotome, the newly elected KNUT Executive Secretary for the West Pokot Branch.
Seventh, Sembelo fell out with his former chairman, Joel Partich, who spearheaded tough campaigns in the opposing camp. Joel Partich retained the position of KNUT Branch Chairman.
Eighth, the accommodation of little-known Paul Tokichon as a Chairman aspirant in the Sembelo camp had little impact on his campaigns.
Tokichon, a teacher who had just been delocalized from Uasin Gishu County back to West Pokot County, had not properly settled down to familiarise himself with KNUT issues.
Bt Martin Ruto
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