Sossion’s action smacks of prejudice against Kenyans in the north

When boundless verbosity and unmeasured rhetoric is the trademark for acclaim, none will beat the malevolent KNUT leader Wilson Sossion.

In his characteristic bellicose and eccentric remarks, Sossion told teachers from North Eastern counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera to leave the area because there is no security for them. A mediocre leadership often undermines institutional order and remains oblivious to disastrous effect of their deficient expressions of thought.

Hence, that he could yelp those imprudent statements is not at all surprising; the teachers who heeded his call confound me.

Nearly 2,000 teachers employed by the TSC have declined to report to work in these counties and have sought to be transferred out. Hundreds of schools in the affected counties remain shut, and consequently thousands of innocent children remain at home. Their parents and relatives, and the wider residents of the counties, feel neglected in their own country, amid rising resentment.

Since independence, policymakers held such prejudiced views marginalised the region, leaving it dependent on teachers and other professionals from upcountry.

The dismissive attitude of Sossion and his ilk in the unions is reflective of the prejudiced mindset about North Eastern that has deprived it of resources and development. And now, to laugh at us! ‘Go teach yourselves!’ He knows we have no adequate local teachers, courtesy of those who share his mindset, not because residents are dumb. His remarks are no less offensive than the ‘kill your own’ hash tag by Moses Kuria. For all Sossion cares, residents of these areas can perish! If insecurity is his reason, children can die but not teachers. This is the import of his imprudent message. And what would teachers be without the children? Would it not have been prudent for this man and his outfit to demand security for all the residents of the region?

Kudos to the hundreds of teachers from upcountry working in private schools in these counties who are back to work, and the hundreds of other public servants and businessmen working.

Security has been beefed up to the same levels of other parts of Kenya. In Mandera town this week, the Senate Committee on Security met with hundreds of these people to get their perspective on insecurity in the area. What is so special about this group of TSC teachers then? For most, it is about exploiting this opportunity to transfer to their home areas; while for others, it provides a chance to squeeze more benefits from TSC, such as promotions and allowances, according to media reports.

Primary school teachers are recruited by the respective County Education Board, and cannot seek transfers out of a county until they serve five years, as per their contract. Secondary school teachers are recruited by respective Board of Governors of the schools and are similarly required to serve for five years before requesting a transfer.

It is therefore not possible for TSC to accede to the requests of these teachers without breaching its own regulations. If they must go, those counties must get replacements immediately. Even then, TSC would have acted irregularly.

Sossion may rake in his millions, but the poor parents who spend years taking their sun-wasted kids to school in North Eastern have had preciously little to smile about in decades. Public schools in these regions are the worst performing in the country, with nearly 70 per cent of the form four candidates recording below grade C- that does not qualify them to join teachers training colleges.

Neither does it bother KNUT that their teachers are concerned about privileges more than the right of children to learn. In KNUT’s own national committees, North Eastern is not even represented! In the long-term, solution is for the region to urgently train their local manpower. Perhaps more significantly, we must consider devolving education, too, so that these obvious prejudices by Sossions of this world can be eliminated.

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Mandera teachers