Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers(Kuppet) secretary-general Akelo Misori in his book, Teachers Unions and Labour Relations in Kenya, revealed the real reason behind Kenya National Union of Teachers(Knut) secretary-general Wilson Sossion's embattled stay at the helm of the union.
In an article by Daily Nation on December 27, Misori revealed that Sossion's woes were as a result of, "stubbornness and failure to plan and adhere to the law".
On August 29, a meeting was convened by Knut where they voted to eject Sossion from its leadership as reported by the Standard.
In his book, Misori revealed that in September, Sossion had been backed to a corner and was willing to quit the union's leadership. His then expected replacement Hesborn Otieno even offered him a lifeline out of the seat.
Sossion was facing major opposition at the time, from members of the National Executive Council(NEC) and the steering committee, on the other hand, he was in a battle to prevent the Teachers Service Commission(TSC) from deregistering him as a teacher.
It is when he called Misori to negotiate his exit from the union.
"On September 16, 2019, Sossion called me to discuss the situation. I candidly urged him to consider whether he was part of the problem.
"If others feel that you are the problem, it is vital that you listen even if you don't agree," Misori writes as quoted by Daily Nation.
Misori revealed that he was intrigued that Sossion bore similar thoughts pertaining to his exit even though a section of Knut members allied to him would not take the exit lightly.
"I have worked for Knut for so long and they can't throw me out like a dog,' he told me and said he could leave even tomorrow on mutually agreed terms," Misori revealed.
At the time, NEC and the steering committee had greenlit Sossion's ouster. Hesborn Otieno had taken over the Knut secretary-general seat on an acting capacity, even the union's bank account signatories had been changed to lock out Sossion from Knut.
"Seeing a window for Knut to get over the matter, I inquired from Sossion whether he would reach out to his colleagues, which he agreed to," Misori narrated.
Misori reached an agreement with Sossion to negotiate his safe exit from the union, however, Sossion stated that Knut would suffer, Daily Nation reported.
"I have my own supporters in this institution and they would not take kindly to my being hounded out of office," Misori quoted Sossion.
However, Misori revealed that three weeks after he, Otieno and Sossion met to discuss the details of Sossion's honourable departure, nothing had materialised within the union.
In his book, Misori further highlighted the rift that existed between Kuppet and Knut and Sossion's hand in it.
"Under Sossion, Knut developed a proclivity for picking fights with Kuppet over non-issues. being a post-primary teacher, he has frustrated the efforts to demarcate the boundaries of membership" Misori stated.
"This is for selfish reasons because it would bar him from holding a position in Knut. As someone I have known for many years, and whose intelligence I trusted, I openly told him that he was taking Knut down the wrong path," Misori added.
