Rival unions fight over members

A battle for members on Wednesday erupted between Knut and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).

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Knut officials accused their Kuppet rivals of colluding with the Teachers Service Commission to register teachers as its members by using underhand tactics.

Knut secretary-general Lawrence Majali threatened unspecified “drastic action” on Kuppet officials and TSC officers whom he accused of being involved in the deals.

However, Kuppet secretary-general Njeru Kanyamba challenged “anybody out there” with any such information to report those involved to the police.

Knut officials had earlier in the day said they had letters from more than 6,000 secondary school teachers who were their members, but had been moved to Kuppet without their consent.

The officials showed the Nation a bundle of the letters written by affected members. Said one of the letters: “I discovered recently that Kuppet has been deducting my money for seven months and yet I have never applied nor imagined being a member... I now request you to reinstate my membership to Knut.”

Kuppet, on the other hand, said it had launched investigations to verify claims that Knut had been refusing to process requests from teachers who wanted to quit Knut to join Kuppet.

Contacted for comment, Teachers Service Commission (TSC) chairman Ibrahim Hussein told the Nation that any of their staff who will have been found to have been involved in any illegal activities regarding the unions would be punished. TSC is the employer of teachers.

“The law is clear and the individuals have a right to decide which union to join. You make a choice and anybody who refuses to comply with that principle is wrong,” Mr Hussein said.

Withdrawal

A teacher willing to quit one union for the other is required to write a withdrawal letter to his union and fill in forms for the union he wishes to join. All the letters are forwarded to TSC for implementation.

Kuppet draws its membership from teachers in secondary schools, polytechnics, teacher-training colleges and other tertiary institutions but not universities. Knut’s members are from the whole teaching profession apart from universities.

The battles over membership emerged after Knut described the salary increment deal signed between Kuppet and TS on Tuesday as fraudulent and insisted that a Knut members’ strike slated for next Monday will go on as planned.

After signing the deal, Kuppet called off their strike which was to start on Thursday.