- Sossion said the government orchestrated his removal as Knut secretary general to stop his quest for improvement of the teaching profession.
- He said for the past six years, the government has been fighting him for allegedly radicalising teachers.
After putting up a spirited fight to defend his position, the vociferous secretary general Wilson Sossion finally bowed out of the Kenya National Union of Teachers in a tearful scene on June 25. https://bit.ly/37wy8wO
After putting up a spirited fight to defend his position, the vociferous secretary general Wilson Sossion finally bowed out of the Kenya National Union of Teachers in a tearful scene on June 25.
His pain, anger and frustration could not be contained beneath the sweetly coated, carefully selected speech as he announced his resignation.
“I have outgrown Knut and now it is my time to transition fully as a politician,” he said.
Though Sossion expressed deep satisfaction with his performance during his 20 years in the union, he attributed his exit to a malicious external force - the state.
According to Sossion, the government orchestrated his removal as Knut secretary general to stop his quest for improvement of the teaching profession.
In an interview with the Star, Sossion said the government turned colleagues against him with the promise of restoring union benefits, which it had earlier withdrawn.
“The government made it clear to them that I, Sossion, was the problem and that if I was removed, the union would be okay,” he said.
“The government had withheld union dues and was threatening members. Union staff were going without salaries. Anyone could have been tempted."
A day after his exit, TSC opened talks for a better pay deal for teachers. CEO Nancy Macharia met with union officials for negotiations on a new CBA at the Safari Park Hotel.
Sossion, a strong leader known to be unshaken by threats, held that "for the continuity of the union" his exit was the best option.
He said for the past six years, the government has been fighting him for allegedly radicalising teachers. The war, he said, picked up strongly in 2015.
That year, Knut under Sossion held a 36-day nationwide teachers’ strike pushing the government to sign their Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The President had called for a meeting with union officials, a request Sossion disregarded. There was a fallout between a section of leaders in his camp and other officials led by then chairperson Mudzo Nzili.
At the centre of the controversy was the question of whether the giant teachers union should settle for the pay deal brokered by the President, or the matter b taken to the Supreme Court for judicial determination, which Sossion was pushing for.
Eventually, the contended Sh54 billion teachers CBA was signed in what Sossion said would be the beginning of an active campaign to oust him.
Sossion told the Star that the same year, he would be taken to the DCI a couple of times.
“When Garissa University was attacked, I was summoned by the DCIO. To date, they are still keeping my phones for investigations. If you see a government using criminal institutions to intimidate leaders, question the motive,” he said.
“If Knut was getting Sh500 million per month from donors, how does that pose as a security risk?”Wilson Sossion
In 2017, ODM nominated Sossion to Parliament. The move handed the government a stick to easily beat him out of Knut. Their argument? He was no longer a teacher and could therefore not represent teachers.
The Teachers Service Commission expunged Sossion’s name from their registry and, strategically, a day before the teachers’ annual delegates conference in Mombasa, the Labour CS released a gazette notice stating that Sossion was no longer a Knut official.
The conference would then turn chaotic as they forcibly removed Sossion from the meeting.
“Government had completely infiltrated union leadership to remove me for their dues to be reinstated,” Sossion said.
He said the TSC had stopped union dues in July and August during which staff went without a salary.
In August 2019, Sossion called for a meeting but on learning that the officials’ agenda was to oust him, he cancelled it.
“They continued with the meeting whatsoever and reported my suspension, a decision that was quashed by the court,” he said.
Sossion said at the same time TSC escalated the war with Knut, blacklisting its members from benefitting from the signed CBA, promotions or opportunities unless they left Knut.
Sossion said this saw many teachers leave Knut due to the coercion and by December, the membership had reduced to 116,000 from 187, 000.
“Instead of the usual Sh144 million monthly dues, Knut only received Sh81 million. By January 2020, the dues had gone down to Sh66 million and Sh11 million last month,” he stated.
Sossion said the move was an indication by the government that they would kill the union if he got reelected.
“I considered the interest of the union and decided that instead of killing the union, I had better leave,” he explained.
Sossion denied having used the union for personal benefit and to enrich himself, stating that he earned salaries fairly.
“How do you make a killing when you are always subjected to litigation and intimidation? If my accounts are audited, you’ll find no inconsistencies,” he said.
The former secretary general, however, mentioned that the National Security Council had been tracking him due to the large sums of money the union was receiving from international donors.
“If Knut was getting Sh500 million per month from donors, how does that pose a security risk? Every coin was accounted for,” he noted.
Sossion defended his numerous calls for strikes as a means to achieve union goals.
He criticised the current Knut leadership under Collins Oyuu, stating that the leader does not inspire any confidence and is already making mistakes.
“If I were SG I would definitely not sign an empty CBA. I would not have even allowed them to table an empty CBA. I would have claimed the Sh33 billion recommended by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for teachers for four years,” he said.
Sossion said Oyuu should have taken the war to the Treasury, not TSC, their employer.
“If the government cannot give the Sh8 million in the first year, how much can they give? I would not have come out empty-handed,” he said.
Sossion faulted the new leadership for failing to do basic research and lacking intel on how government operates.
“A union must assemble empirical data, do research and investigations, and have credible sources of information. Unions must go beyond the employer. Employers will do little if they are not given money,” he said.
He asserted that teachers' unions today are not just weak; they are incapable of making any case.
“They have been crushed. They cannot threaten a strike for a day or sustain one for an hour. A strong union is bad for government but good for education,” he said.
He said divisions between Knut, Kuppet and Kusnet will be used to weaken the voice of teachers further.
Newly elected Knut officials led by Oyuu have numerous times warned the former secretary general over interfering with union matters after his resignation.
They have said Sossion should now concentrate on politics and not interfere with the union since he was unable to demonstrate leadership when he was in power.
When asked why he strongly opposed the Competency Based Curriculum, Sossion affirmed that it is misinformed, unplanned for and intended to drive privatisation of schools.
The MP said Kenya doesn’t have financial capacity and resources to properly implement CBC.
"With 100 children, teachers cannot evaluate each properly,” he said.
Sossion said teachers needed to be trained afresh and the economy stabilised before its consideration.
“Private investors will have a field day. CBC is meant to trigger privatisation of education. When public schools cannot manage, the private investors will come in to support it,” he said.
Sossion noted that CBC will be a challenge for the next President, as they will have to make a choice on whether to fund CBC completely or drop it altogether.
The MP is currently pursuing a PhD in governance and leadership at Mt Kenya University and confirmed he will continue his political career.
Edited by Henry Makori