Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Secretary General Akello Misori (centre) and other Kuppet officials address the media in Nairobi on September 20, 2024.
The recent strike by secondary school teachers has sparked conflict within the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) with three top officials slated to face a disciplinary committee on accusations of authoring an alleged fake resignation letter of the secretary-general of the union, among other charges.
The accusations come just a month after the union called off a nationwide strike following the signing of a return-to-work formula with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), an action that was not well-received by a section of its leadership and membership.
The three officials are Ronald Tonui (assistant national treasurer), Sammy Chelang’a (national secretary, tertiary) and Samuel Orwa (executive branch secretary of Migori). They have been accused of attempting “to cause anarchy” in the union.
The officials have been summoned to appear before a disciplinary committee on Friday October 11 2024 but at different times.
According to documents seen by Sunday Nation, the disciplinary action comes after what the union says is a petition by eight branch secretaries calling for the officials to be sanctioned.
In a communication to members on September 18 2024, Mr Misori acknowledged having received a petition to discipline some officials but denied that they were 19 as originally alleged.
“Having had the privilege of reading the petition, I can state in confidence that it calls for disciplinary action for alleged gross misconduct by some union officials in accordance with our Constitution. It lays out specific grounds for such action which none of us should jeopardise before the petition is properly before the board and other appropriate organs of the union. This is a matter of basic manners. As I have observed before, the recent Kuppet strike opened a genuine rift in our members’ understanding of industrial action and negotiation,” he said.
Mr Tonui, Mr Chelang’a and Mr Orwa have been accused of authoring and distributing a fake resignation of the secretary-general of the union Akello Misori. The document has been doing rounds on various social media platforms.
Mr Tonui and Mr Chelang’a and Mr Tonui have also been accused of having written a letter to the Public Service Superannuation Scheme in which they indicated that the union had nominated Mr Chelang’a and Mr Edward Obwocha (national secretary, secondary) as representatives of the union on the pension scheme board when its seat fell vacant. The union later re-nominated Mr Wicks Njenga to the board for a second term.
Mr Tonui and Mr Chelang’a also face charges of sending messages contrary to the union position on the suspension of the strike action in early September 2024. Curiously, both officials were among the team from Kuppet that signed the agreement with the TSC.
They further face charges of allegedly attempting to disrupt the national delegates conference in December last year.
The chair of the union Omboko Milemba has constituted a disciplinary committee following a meeting of its national executive board which recommended action against the officials.
The committee will be chaired by Julius Korir while Moses Nthurima will be its secretary. The other members are Wicks Njenga, Sammy Chilanga and Paul Maingi.
