Knut willing to back Cord on referendum

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) is ready  to support Cord’s quest for a referendum on condition it covers teachers’ welfare.

Union secretary-general Wilson Sossion agreed that the Jubilee administration must be kept under constant pressure to deliver on the expectations of Kenyans.

“We will  support the referendum vote fully if a package for teachers is  included in it. And the influence of 300,000 teachers in this country should not be underestimated because we are the opinion-shapers at the grassroots,” he said at Assar Johannson  primary school in Migori town during a thanksgiving party for the new Knut deputy secretary-general Charles Katege.

Mr  Sossion  told Cord leaders to engage labour movements in their quest to hold a successful referendum.

“We are willing to be engaged  by Cord leaders to discuss the transformation of this country. Teachers and children of this country are also victims of bad governance,” the Knut boss said.

The unionist was responding to calls by local MPs Joseph Ndiege (Suna West) and Junet Mohammed (Suna East) who challenged Knut leadership to back Cord in its bid to safeguard the rights of Kenyans.

Migori Governor Okoth Obado said his administration will continue  to support  improvement  of teachers well-being.

Mr Obado described teachers as the “movers and shakers of the country economy because they were responsible for churning out quality  human resource”.

On his part, Mr Sossion said they were ready to engage the team Uhuruto in a tough battle to safeguard teachers rights.

“The Government is using divide and rule to divide us…we must therefore stand united throughout.

Formations of small useless unions is part  of the scheme and that is why we are now rooting for merger  to increase our bargaining power  in the labour movement,” he explained.

The Cord alliance is already facing major hurdles in its quest for a public referendum on key national issues as outlined in the 13 - point  declaration made during the Saba Saba rally  last Monday.

One of the key demands was establishment of a National Referendum Committee, whose main responsibility would be to frame the referendum question(s), prepare the public for the vote and ensure that as many Kenyans as possible take part.

The team would be tasked to collect the one million signatures needed to initiate the public petition for a referendum.

However, any referendum would have to be conducted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which Cord wants disbanded.

“Having lost all confidence in the IEBC, we now demand its immediate disbandment and the establishment of a new electoral body,” said the declaration read by Senators Boni Khalwale, Hassan Omar, and Ms Rosemary Kariuki, daughter of assassinated politician JM Kariuki.

In the event the electoral commission is dissolved, Cord has suggested an alternative in the referendum being conducted by an independent body appointed by the United Nations, but Kenya has no law presently allowing such a move, so Parliament might be required to give passage to the necessary instruments.