Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Wilson Sossion has said he turned down nomination to the National Assembly by the Orange Democratic Movement to concentrate on steering labour movements he chairs.
Sossion said on Friday that he asked the ODM Party, in which he is a life member, to give the slot to another person who can represent the interest of workers after wide consultations with the party and the various movements he steers.
Speaking to the media after opening a training workshop for teachers with disabilities at the Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu, the KNUT boss rubbished claims that he was pressured to step down for former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto.
He said he opted out because he would not be able to effectively represent the interest of workers due to a busy schedule as the SG of KNUT, Trade Union Congress of Kenya – which proposed his nomination – as well as President of Education International Africa.
"ODM is a democratic party with strict policies, I was duly nominated as a life member of the party by TUC. Those spreading the rumours that I was pressured to step down are not even members of the party. Everyone knows that I am not one to be tossed around," he stressed.
He explained that there were "several emerging issues" and that "after considering the burden of work this meant, I consulted the party and asked them to give it to another person."
EI Africa, Sossion said, had several special programmes and missions on labour practices and education that required him to constantly be out of the country. Between September and December for example, he said he was supposed to shuttle the world for at least five crucial summits in his capacities at the EI Africa and TUC Kenya.
He said ODM was already working towards a replacement, although his name still lies with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as a nominee.
