Knut’s troubles caused by external forces, says Sossion

Beleaguered Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion who maintains that the union is intact even in the face of a chaotic work relationship with Deputy Secretary-General Hesbon Otieno and a section of the executive council. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Sossion reiterated that the turmoil that the union is going through at the moment is not of its own making.
  • He said Knut will be lobbying for the amendment of the TSC Act so that there is sufficient representation of the union in it.
  • The Knut boss said he is not keen on relinquishing his position now.

Beleaguered Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion has remained adamant that the union is intact, even in the face of a chaotic work relationship with Deputy Secretary-General Hesbon Otieno and a section of the executive council.

A bullish Mr Sossion reiterated that the turmoil that the union is going through at the moment is not of its own making but rather triggered by external forces keen on inundating the labour movement.

TSC TO BLAME

“Knut is [neither] at war with anyone nor with itself. We all interact well. It is the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) which is the biggest stumbling block here. It is not Sossion. I think we made a big mistake as a country to create an independent and constitutional commission without the representation of the key stakeholders, who are teachers, to run it,” Mr Sossion said.

He said what the union is going through is temporary and will come to pass.

He added that Knut will be lobbying for the amendment of the TSC Act so that there is sufficient representation of the union in it.

The union, Mr Sossion said, has been running for the past three months without resources, which he attributed to TSC’s subversion. And being the one directing the affairs of the union, he is the most under fire, he said.

STARVE UNION

“It is a liaison between TSC and the Ministry to starve the union of resources partly because our strong stand on the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) is always perceived as a fight against a government project,” Mr Sossion said.

The union’s position, he said, is only to critique the CBC and that the best friends of the curriculum, are, according to him, those who critique it.

He further argued that there was no clear preparation on the framework of assessing and implementing the programme and maintained that consequently, the assessment and enactment framework of the CBC was not well organised and it is the constant sparring with the authorities that compelled the government to try to concretise the CBC assessment and rollout processes.

“At the moment, as Knut, we have chosen to suspend our comments on the programme. We now remain quiet as we make our analysis and observations on the same. At the end of the assessment, we will table these observations during the 62nd annual general conference.

Mr Sossion, who declared that he enjoys almost 100 percent of the country’s teachers’ support, said while Knut can chart its affairs even in his absence, he is not keen on relinquishing his position now, given the tumultuous situation the union is in.