They fought me, now the unions are tamed: Sossion’s ‘I told you so’ moment

At the time you announced your resignation, you said that you were being pushed out. Who was pushing you out and why? 

Yes, I was being pushed out by the President following advice from the National Security Council (NSC) that I was becoming increasingly influential and the government was losing control over teachers. That Knut (Kenya National Union of Teachers) was running TSC (Teachers Service Commission) and that the commission could not undertake any policy work if Knut did not agree. Therefore, the determination was that Sossion must get out of the way so that they could do things the way they want. Now they are doing these things.

Was your decision to resign out of fear that you were going to lose or that you will be rigged out in the elections?

No, I was going to be re-elected. But the President was going to destroy the union. You can imagine for two years I was running a union that was deliberately starved of money and membership withdrawn. When the membership is removed from a union, you have nobody to organise. 

We won a court case on July 12, 2019, and that got these people more determined to fight me. The court judgment was clear that TPD (Teacher Professional Development) can only be undertaken with proper development of regulations. The regulatory roles of TPD are not anywhere in the TSC Act. What is in the Act is Section 35 on capacity building, which is a function of the employer at their cost. Worldwide, licenses for teachers are never renewed. Mind you, teachers are grossly underpaid. How then could it be that the same group that is underpaid should be made to pay for TPD? You subject them to a cashless CBA (collective bargaining agrement) and still expect them to pay for TPD. How is that possible?

Talking of the CBA that Knut and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) signed, with no cash benefits to the teachers, what was your take on it?

I was already aware that SRC (Salaries and Remuneration Commission) had recommended Sh33 billion for teachers and the President wanted to save Sh83 billion that was meant to go to the general workers in the public service. He was able to arm-twist a hungry leadership of Knut and a compromised leadership of Kuppet to sign an empty CBA. 

By doing this, all other workers in the public service lost the entitlement of Sh83 billion.

You have accused some of your ex-Knut colleagues of having been used to fight you. Did you have evidence of that?

It is public knowledge that they were used. I have proof that the President would sometimes call some of them directly. At some point, some union dues from TSC were supposed to be channelled to my colleagues through the accounts of Kuppet – that is the highest level of irregularity. There has been no labour order in the teaching service. There has been deliberate anarchy. 

From the warnings about government intentions to control unions, including Knut, would you say you have been vindicated? 

Absolutely! We no longer have an effective union in the teaching service. You can be sure I was not going to sign an empty CBA. I would have gone for the Sh33 billion SRC was recommending. You can be sure I was not going to vacate judgments and withdraw court cases that had been filed to safeguard the interest of teachers. These fellows did exactly that and took away what the teachers were fighting for. 

These fellows have accepted to change the recognition agreement, which has never been changed since 1968. No secretary-general ever put their finger on the recognition agreement even when there was immense pressure. But this group did it. They signed a recognition agreement that was drafted by TSC and gave away the constituency of Knut, which has now been reduced from representing all teachers to just classroom teachers in primary schools. They gave away 63 branches so that by 2026 Knut will only operate 47 branches. This is against the law because a branch can only be dissolved by members. 

I can say, by and large, the current leadership at Knut is blind and ignorant. They are being misused.

If it is that bad as you claim, who is currently speaking for the teachers on matters regarding TPD and CBC? Should teachers be worried? 

The two institutions I have seen speaking for the teachers are the National Assembly and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). The unions are gone. I am worried about the teaching service. That it is now the National Assembly and LSK fighting for the rights of teachers tells a sad story of unions that are dead.

Since the Knut elections, have you met with the current leadership team?

No, they are fighting me everywhere, including using bloggers to insult me. They are still in the fighting mode. They have been making statements that I should not speak about teachers, forgetting that I am eligible for election in Knut. I am still an active member of the union and I pay my dues. 

One of the theories that have been advanced for the tumultuous times you had with the government at Knut was because of your association with the ODM party…

But Collins Oyuu vied for the Rarieda seat in 2017 on an ODM ticket. Tom Odege is the secretary-general of the Union of Kenya Civil Servants and yet he was elected on ODM. Omboko Milemba is the national chairman of Kuppet but was elected to Parliament on an ANC ticket. Catherine Wambilyanga is the Woman Representative for Bungoma County and was elected on Ford Kenya, an opposition party. Why would the President target Wilson Sossion alone?

They simply did not want a strong Knut. President Uhuru Kenyatta was so determined not to see the CBA negotiated when I was still the secretary-general of Knut because I was not going to sign an empty CBA. 

Between 2013 and 2017, were you at any time influenced by the ODM leadership to organise teachers’ strikes? 

No, that is far-fetched. ODM and the opposition came out very openly to support teachers in 2015 during the strike. Raila Odinga initiated public fundraising to support teachers and the money collected was delivered to both Knut and Kuppet. 

When I was arrested and jailed in July 2013, was ODM involved? In fact, at that time, I was a supporter of Jubilee. I only joined the opposition when I was convinced that Jubilee did not mean well for the labour movement and it was up to no good with workers. 

The question you should ask is why the government did not do the same for the other union leaders who joined ODM and other opposition parties. 

Often, you did not agree on many things with TSC boss Nancy Macharia. How would you describe your relationship with her?

My relationship with Nancy Macharia was indeed one of the best. But what could she do when the NSC had made a decision? I am convinced that the disagreements we had with TSC were because she was working on instructions. 

The day you were resigning, there was that moment when you were overcome by emotions and you cried. Why?

The pains I went through in Knut, no labour leader can ever wish to go through. When I organised a delegates’ conference in Mombasa in 2017, then the Cabinet secretary issued a gazette notice to revoke my leadership of the union and some people were also sent to disrupt the meeting. In April 2018, I called a normal National Delegates Conference only for them to come up with an agenda of removing me because they had been instructed to do so. In 2019, when they refused to give the union its dues, there was incitement to have me removed so the money could begin to flow again. 

As we were moving closer to the national elections, the presence of the state was quite palpable and the determination to remove me was obvious. Any reasonable leader would choose what is best in the circumstances. So I chose to walk away. 

I was emotional about the teachers of Bomet. These teachers had plucked me from a classroom and voted for me in their numbers. As I was leaving the high office of representing teachers I had to deeply reflect in my heart about that great love and the opportunity they gave me. 

What next in terms of your political journey?

I am going for the Bomet senator seat in 2022. The people of Bomet have always wanted to elect me since Kipkalya Kones died. At every General Election since, they have always wanted to elect me but my engagements in Knut did not allow it. 

What will be your party of choice?

I will announce it at the right time. The people of Bomet will help me settle on the right party.