Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has asked the government not to interfere with its upcoming national election.
Members who spoke in Bomet on Saturday told the government to allow the union conduct its poll freely without interference of any sort.
Union’s assistant secretary general Clement Gitau said they are aware of the government’s plan to kill the union as evidenced by the withholding of register of its members and failing to failing to deduct and remit dues from members to the union.
Gitau said the war the union has with TSC was an indicator of 'ill plans' the government has against them but noted such should not be allowed to spill into the election.
“We are asking the government to allow teachers to exercise their rights and elect their preferred officials to head the union…we do not want to see some individuals being imposed on them,” he said.
The union at the weekend continued to defy odds and conduct elections across its branches in the country.
A total of 16 branches from Rift Valley, Nyanza and Eastern held the election on Friday and Saturday. The elections are held ahead of the upcoming national poll set for March this year.
There have been rumors that the election might not be held due to lack of funds.
Union officials who attended the Bomet branch election on Saturday disclosed that they had to reach out to sponsors and well-wishers to conduct the election while in some areas teachers conducted fundraising to support the exercise.
But, giving a clearest indication that not even the financial crisis will weaken the union, members from across the country converged at various branches and elected new office holders.
Bomet branch executive secretary Malel Langat, who was reelected to the seat, maintained they will not allow the union to die.
“If we fail to conduct the election as required by our constitution we shall have broken the law and that means we have allowed union to die that is why we have maintained that whether we have money or not we are going to conduct the poll in all our branches,” said Malel.
Malel trounced his close rival Desmond Langat after garnering 391 votes against 147.
