Kuppet: We are not dividing teachers over pay

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has denied allegations that they are being used to scuttle and divide teachers in the push for the 50 to 60 per cent pay increase awarded by court.

Rival union, Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) on Sunday pulled out of an AON Minet medical cover citing inefficiency of the scheme and division on the provision of the cover to teachers.

Kuppet and Knut are currently bickering on teachers’ medical scheme which will kill the unity in pushing the government to effect a pay increase awarded in court last month.

Speaking in their offices in Nairobi on Monday, Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori said that the union was aware the AON Minet cover was a fraud from the word go since Knut had sourced for company before the tender was floated.

“We are disturbed by the allegations that we are scuttling the unity of teachers, yet on the issue of the medical cover provided by AON Minet, we raised a red flag eons ago, as the procurement process was flawed, teachers were also not consulted on the cover ,” said Mr Misori.

Some teachers are receiving medical cover from AON Minet while others are getting covered by National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). Kuppet has insisted that the NHIF medical cover they got the teachers was superior.

AON Minet was contracted by TSC to manage the medical scheme. Under the arrangement, teachers’ medical monthly allowances would be pooled into an account by the TSC.

NO COMMUNICATION

TSC said that they have not received any communication from Knut withdrawing from the scheme.

“We have not received any communication from Knut to the effect of withdrawing from the AON Minet Scheme, we have only read and seen from the media, we will act on the matter when and if we receive communication from them,” TSC head of communication Kamotho Kihumba told Nation in a telephone interview.

Documents in possession of Nation show that Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in June wrote to TSC Secretary calling for investigation into allegations of procurement irregularities in the award of the tender for the provision of medical insurance to the teachers.

Kuppet in June, went to court and stopped the TSC from deducting the money from its members and instead negotiated with NHIF to get a superior medical cover tailor made for teachers. Under the NHIF cover the teachers lose half their medical allowance.

Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said that over 7000 teachers have now decamped to Kuppet and as such the union has decided to pull out of their cover since the initial agreement was to have one cover for all the teachers.

In reply to Sossion, Kuppet Secretary General said: “No member has decamped to Kuppet irregularly; they have all followed the due procedure.”