Some 110 branches of the Kenya National Union of Teachers countrywide are on the verge of collapse because they are broke.
That's what Knut Baringo branch executive secretary Rev Joshua Cheptarus said on Tuesday.
The union blames their employer, the Teachers Service Commission, for technically withdrawing its membership, attacking the monthly check-off system and crippling its operations.
“Initially our membership nationally stood at over 180,000 but shockingly now it stands at a paltry less than 30,000," he said.
Despite writing three letters between August 11 and 18 to the TSC, it has not responded or heeded the union's plea to restore its membership as at June 2019, Cheptarus said.
“All the [key] issues have remained unresolved to date and the office has gone quiet while TSC has continued to cripple operations of Knut," a union letter reads.
The TSC has gone ahead to promote 14,000 teachers nationally ahead of the school opening on January 4, dealing a blow to the Wilson Sossion-led union.
The TSC said teachers will be promoted on the basis of their career progression guidelines. It said 3,986 secondary school teachers will be promoted to the position of deputy principal.
Cheptarus, who is Rift Valley representative to the National Executive Council, said the government should stop attacking the oldest teachers' union.
“As officials across the 110 branches countrywide, we really bear the brunt. For example, here in Baringo we are yet to receive our 12 months' salaries, yet we are to pay office rent," he said.
The unionist said life is getting even tougher because they have not even paid their support staff for a long time, "yet we all have families and children to feed and pay school fees for."
He said some branches have been forced to close down and their properties auctioned.
"And if the financial crisis persists, then the giant union might soon be forced to its knees," Cheptarus said.
He said bankrupt officials have been evicted from rented houses while those with unpaid loans have been listed with the CRB and can no longer afford medical cover.
A letter to the TSC seen by the Star dated November 9 from Knut states the union used to run a payroll of Sh80 million a month, “which is no longer sustainable because the organisation’s total income now stands at paltry Sh25 million." It was copied to Labour CS Simon Chelugui.
It said the union used to have an operating budget of Sh144 million a month, but its resources have been depleted.
The branch will hold elections on January 9.
Cheptarus said he is not trying to scare off new union candidates "but I am just putting across things as they are".
He said it is no longer lucrative to be a Knut official on the national or county levels as in the past due to few members and little money.
(Edited by V. Graham)
