Since the dawn of Kenya’s independence, trade unionism has acted as a breeding ground for Kenya’s politicians. Many trade unionists have transitioned from championing workers' rights to advocating for constituents' rights.
Some of the leaders who have broken out of the union movement into the political landscape include:
Tom Mboya
Thomas Joseph Mboya was secretary-general of the Kenya Local Government Workers Union. He is one of the pioneer trade unionists in Kenya. The late Mboya left the union movement to join politics at the dawn of Kenya’s independence.
He was instrumental in forming a coalition government by the Kenya African National Union (KANU) led by Jomo Kenyatta and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) led by Ronald Ngala. When Kenya became a Republic on June 1, 1964, Kenyatta became Kenya’s first President, while Mboya was appointed Minister for Economic Planning.
Boy Juma
Juma served as the former MP of Matuga Constituency. He was the first Senator of Kwale County since the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, elected to serve in the 2013 elections.
The former senator had served at the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU), where he fought for workers' rights. His son, Issa Boy Juma, is the current Kwale County Senator.
Wilson Sossion
Wilson Sossion started teaching in 1993 at Tenwek High School in Bomet County. In 2000, he vied for executive secretary for the Bomet branch of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) but lost the election.
Seven years later, in 2007, he vied and won the second vice national chairperson position of KNUT.
In 2013, he rose to the position of secretary general of KNUT, where he was vocal in defending teachers' rights. Sossion served in that position for eight years before being nominated to Parliament by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Sossion contested in the 2022 Bomet senatorial election but lost to Hillary Sigei.
Omboko Milemba
Milemba is a founder member of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET). He started as a teacher before joining union politics and has been the national chairman of KUPPET since 2010.
In the 2022 General Election, he vied and was voted Emuhaya MP on an Amani National Congress (ANC) ticket.
Milemba is currently a member of the Speaker’s panel at the 13th Parliament.
Mutahi Kahiga
He currently serves as the governor of Nyeri County. Kahiga rose from the ranks of teachers’ rights activism when he came into the political limelight as the deputy governor of Nyeri.
He then rose to be the governor after his predecessor, Wahome Gakuru, passed away in a road accident in November 2017.
In 1995, he was elected supervisory committee member of the Nyeri Teachers Cooperative society, currently called the NewFortis Sacco.
He was also a member of the Nyeri Teachers Plaza Housing Cooperative Society, rising to the position of chairman. Kahiga also held the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) executive secretary post.
