Wilson Sossion fights for right to seek seat
What you need to know:
- Leader says there is no MoU stopping him from being secretary-general
- Chairman campaigns for new position
Knut chairman Wilson Sossion has defended his intention to gun for the union’s secretary general’s post.
Mr Sossion maintained that no seats were reserved for particular regions.
Every post in the giant teachers’ union should be contested competitively by qualified candidates to ensure that only the best were elected when the union’s elections are held in December, he said.
Mr Sossion was speaking at ACK St Paul’s Cathedral in Embu Town during celebrations to mark this year’s World Teachers’ Day.
He said there was no memorandum of understanding outlining the sharing of the union’s national posts and any qualified person was free to vie.
The Knut chairman criticised those insisting that the secretary general’s post was reserved for Nyanza and Coast regions.
Mr Mudzo Nzili is the acting secretary-general, having taken over after the death of Mr David Okuta earlier in the year.
“Knut is not a monarchy that one automatically inherits a seat when another dies,” said Mr Sossion. “We should respect democracy. Nobody should tell us that certain seats are for particular regions”.
But Knut officials from Mombasa yesterday accused Mr Sossion of reneging on his June 24 pledge to support Mr Nzili to be confirmed as the union’s secretary general.
“Our acting secretary-general can only be opposed by another candidate from Coast region but not from Rift Valley where the chairman hails from,” said the union’s Kaloleni executive secretary Kittu Gwengwele.
He and 10 other executive secretaries from the Coast pledged to support Mr Nzili.
In Embu, however, Knut executive secretary John Gitari and his Nyambene counterpart Julius Thaitumu dismissed talks of a memorandum of understanding over sharing of seats and called for a level playing field where any eligible candidate was allowed to contest.
SHARING OF SEATS
Mr Gitari said teachers from Embu would support Mr Sossion’s bid.
“We should let the people decide on who they want,” he said.
In telephone interviews with the Nation, two former Knut top officials, Mr Lawrence Majali (secretary-general) and George Wesonga (national chairman) said the in-fighting could break up the union.
“With the current standoff the danger is that the union may end up being the loser in the trade union business,” they warned.
Mr Majali asked Mr Sossion to be contented with his post.
Additional reporting by Mwakera Mwajefa
