A senior official of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) was kicked out of the Laikipia branch's annual general meeting (AGM) as leadership wrangles rock some branches of the union.
The teachers accused Wicks Mwethi Njenga, the national treasurer, of interfering in the branch's leadership. He was representing national Secretary-General Akello Misori at the meeting, which was held at Thingitu Boys Secondary School.
Supporters of branch secretary Robert Miano ejected Mr Njenga over his alleged support for branch gender secretary Hellen Githui, who has expressed interest in taking Mr Miano's post in the 2026 elections.
Riot police were called in to break up the meeting after it turned chaotic. On Monday, Mr Njenga admitted that the standoff was part of a leadership struggle among members of the National Executive Council (NEC).
“I can confirm that some NEC members took part in funding and organising goons with a section of the branch officials to heckle me. They had firm instructions to ensure that I do not conclude my speech,” Mr Njenga told the Nation .
“The chaos is part of the politics that has been witnessed in the Kuppet head office. Most of those who were involved in the heckling were not members of the union.”
Mr Njenga said branch officials would be held accountable for the management of the Burial and Benevolent Fund (BBF), which members contribute to monthly.
“We changed the signatories of the branch to the BBF account and allowed Hellen Githui to run it. As the national treasurer, the auditing of branch accounts is my responsibility. The branch officials are supposed to appear before the local labour office for auditing of the accounts,” Mr Njenga said.
In a letter dated August 6, 2024, Mr Njenga wrote to the Laikipia County Labour Office alleging misappropriation of BBF funds and suspending the bank accounts of the branch secretary, chairperson and treasurer.
“In pursuant to Article 17 and 19 of the union constitution and any other relevant article concerning union finances in Labour Relations Act 2007, that I have initiated the auditing of this account. We write to your office to offer the necessary assistance,” Mr Njenga said.
“The truth of the matter and the record speaks for itself that Mr Njenga has been undermining the branch leadership and is keen on having the elected officials kicked out of office. There are no issues with the BBF account as claimed. The national office [is] introducing politics to the branch in a divide and rule tactic that will not prevail,” Mr Miano said.
The incident comes a few weeks after some national officials met President William Ruto at State House in Nairobi. The meeting was attended by Chairman Omboko Milemba, Woman Representative Catherine Wambilianga, Vice-Chairman Julius Korir, Deputy Secretary-General Moses Nthrurima, Organising Secretary Paul Maingi, Mr Misori and Mr Njenga, among others.
Deputy National Treasurer Ronald Tonui, Secretary for Secondary Schools Edward Obwocha and Secretary for Tertiary Institutions Sammy Chelang'a were left out.
