Knut officials after a meeting in EldoretThe KNUT has accused the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) of irregularly transferring more than 15,000 teachers who are its members to other unions, including KUPPET.
KNUT branch officials from the Rift Valley, led by regional chairman John Koech, claimed there was a scheme by some officials at the TSC to undermine the union by moving its members to KUPPET without their consent.
However, TSC Chief Executive Everleen Mitei said the commission had enforced a court order requiring it to transfer deductions for some teachers from KNUT to KUPPET.
“We are not siding with any union, but when there is a court order, there is nothing else we can do,” Mitei said.
Tuwei said they were tired of what they described as poaching and would soon name some of the commissioners at TSC allegedly involved in the scheme to undermine KNUT.
He said they had no problem with Mitei but claimed that some commissioners at TSC were working clandestinely to undermine KUPPET.
Koech particularly noted that teachers who were recently deployed to junior schools and were members of KNUT had found themselves registered as members of KUPPET without their knowledge.
“We are angered that the TSC is participating in poaching our members and forcefully moving them to other unions, especially KUPPET. It’s illegal to force teachers to join a union or organisation without their consent,” Koech said.
Koech said the teachers had long ago decided to belong to KNUT and should not be moved through what he described as illegal schemes aimed at undermining the union.
Koech regretted that even some KNUT branch officials had allegedly found themselves moved to KUPPET without their knowledge.
“We are asking the CEO at TSC to stop what is going on, failure to which we will mobilise our members to take action so that we save our union,” he said.
Koech and Simon Tuwei, a KNUT member of the national executive council, accused some KUPPET officials of allegedly colluding with some TSC officials to undermine KNUT.
“KNUT is the mother union in this country, and we ask KUPPET not to joke with us. We will curse them and take action that will make them respect us,” Koech said.
KNUT Chairman for the Rift Valley region, John Koech, speaking after a meeting in Eldoret
