Knut pulls out of teachers' medical scheme

KNUT secretary general Wilson Sossion addressing the press when he announced the union's withdrawal from AON Minet medical scheme. He is flanked by Chairman Mudzo Nzilli. [Photo/Tabitha Otwori/STANDARD]

A legal battle looms on the Sh6 billion comprehensive medical scheme signed between AoN Minet and the Teachers Service Commission, after the giant teachers' union abandoned it.

The over 280,000-member strong Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) ditched the medical cover after a month, citing alleged underhand moves by the Government.

KNUT officials who had strongly advocated for the scheme abandoned it after thousands of their members decamped to the rival Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) that they argue brokered a better deal with the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). While KNUT backed the TSC-run medical scheme, KUPPET has been gravitating towards the NHIF scheme.

KUPPET now claims they have signed up over 10,000 teachers who have quit KNUT in a huff to protest the loss of their monthly medical allowance that is to finance the scheme. But KNUT has only publicly admitted that 7,000 members have decamped to their rivals and accused the State of fast tracking their registration in a ploy to divide teachers.

KNUT's action is likely to open a court battle because the contract with AoN Minet was to run for a year.

It emerged that KUPPET outsmarted its rivals after negotiating for its members to retain half of their monthly medical allowance under the deal with NHIF.

Teachers receive a medical allowance of between Sh700 and Sh4,000 depending on their grade. Yesterday, KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion argued that TSC ought to have signed a medical scheme for all the teachers and not just for some.

Sossion accused TSC of using Kuppet to frustrate the AON Minet scheme, saying some 7,000 teachers have left KNUT to join the rival union.

"The employer, compounding the violation of the contract, is working in collusion with Kuppet to poach members of Knut to join its rival union in a bid to destabilise the scheme and by extension KNUT. We have now abandoned the scheme," Sossion said at KNUT headquarters in Nairobi yesterday.

KNUT claims the manner in which TSC reopened the payroll on July 25 to remove its members and add the membership of KUPPET is fraudulent and aimed at threatening the unity of teachers.

Sossion explained KNUT engaged the consultative committee on terms and conditions of service for all the teachers employed by TSC and that the engagement was meant to provide unified terms and not selective ones. Sossion claimed the contract entered into by TSC and the medical provider has been honoured selectively in breach of the intended spirit.

"We are supposed to enjoy unified terms and conditions of service by all the teachers and this is what we have always fought for. It is either we all enjoy the medical scheme or we are all out of any scheme," said Sossion.

The union has already written to TSC to pull out from the AON Minet cover and to demand refund of the medical allowances for last month that were deducted from their members' pay. TSC had attempted to revoke the award of the tender to AoN but the winning bidder successfully defended the award in court.

Already, five teachers and their dependants are in India for specialised treatment, 200 have received inpatient services and the victims of seven deaths have benefited from the group life cover under the scheme. KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori said, "KNUT is giving teachers a raw deal. We have received more than 10,800 teachers who have crossed to join KUPPET. NHIF is deducting 50 per cent of the medical allowance for our teachers. The deal is similar to that of AoN but cheaper compared to what KNUT secured in its package," added KUPPET Chairman Omboko Milemba.

"The hands of KNUT are now tied together, they have no option after they agreed to enter a deal which has turned out to be expensive for its members. KUPPET is the union of choice and we ask teachers to join us for their prosperity," he said.

Yesterday, NHIF CEO Simon ole Kirgotty told The Standard the agency was ready to welcome KNUT members for their medical cover which "will propel teachers to the status of other civil servants, if not better".

AoN CEO Sammy Muthui also described their offer to teachers as an 'awesome' deal.