The vicious war over leadership at the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has once again highlighted the power struggles in trade union politics that revolves around personalities.
As Nominated MP Wilson Sossion continues to hold on to his Secretary General post, he is following a path taken by present and former trade union leaders who owe their positions to bare knuckle politics.
On Friday, Mr Sossion got a temporary reprieve when the High Court barred the Registrar of Trade Unions and the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) from deregistering him as Knut Secretary General. Still, that did not stop union officials who want him out from storming the Knut offices in Nairobi yesterday.
Interestingly, the nominated MP has found himself in the same situation he placed the former Knut chairman Mudzo Dzili and vice chairman Samson Kaguma.
Mr Dzili and Mr Kaguma who had for a long time been wrangling with Sossion were supposed to retire in April and June, respectively, but received their marching orders in November after the Secretary General engineered their ouster six months ago. It is a perfect case of karma.
Push for certain agenda
At stake are the billions of shillings that members of the trade unions contribute every year and the influence that comes with it especially on national matters.
Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary General Francis Atwoli and Sossion have a number of times used their positions to push for certain agenda on the national discourse.
All the 290,000 teachers for example contribute two per cent of their salaries to trade unions every month through a check-off effected on their payrolls. There are currently three unions representing teachers; the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers, the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers and Knut.
Yesterday, the embattled Knut Secretary General declared that he was in-charge, explaining in a terse message: “There are subsisting court orders and I am in charge.”
Mr Atwoli, however, termed Sossion’s woes as purely political. “Since Sossion was nominated to Parliament, some forces feel he should not be at that position. Roba Duba was the representative of the County Workers Union while still in Parliament, why did we not hear those issues?” he asked.
But as Sossion hangs on to his post, the happenings at Knut mirror several other trade unions whose images revolve around their leaderships. Also, term limits are an alien term to most. With many members seemingly uninterested with the happenings at the unions, power hungry sharks have for years taken advantage of this void to control affairs. In the absence of direct government control, some leaders continue to hold on to positions they have held for decades most likely until someone engineers their ouster. A fourth union, the Kenya Teachers Congress was last year given a go ahead by the court to start recruiting members.
Knut is, however, still the biggest and collects more than Sh1.6 billion a year from its more than 174,000 members. Cotu collects Sh150 from each of their 2.8 million workers monthly which translates to Sh420 million.
Unions Act
Each trade union is governed by a constitution which they deposit with the Registrar of Trade Unions. It is this constitution which specifies how leadership changes hands. The Trade Unions Act says all unions must hold elections by secret ballot.
However, changes in union leadership rarely happen through the ballot and when they do, it is through hostile takeovers. In the absence of enforcement, the small unions seldom hold elections while the leaders of the giant ones have mastered the art of holding on to power. For instance, the Kenya Chemical Workers Union has had the same Secretary General for the last 61 years. It is unclear how Mr Were Ogutu has managed to hold on to power for that long since being elected in 1957.
The union represents workers from manufacturers like East African Portland Cement, Bobmil, Galaxy Paints, Haco Tiger Brands, Beta Health Care, Uneliver Kenya and Kenpoly. It is one of the over 90 affiliate unions of Cotu whose boss Atwoli has been at the helm for 17 years now.
With the stakes this high in unions, getting into leadership positions is rarely without drama. Kenya Union of Journalists Secretary General Eric Oduor, however, says despite the politics, all unions are bound to operate in accordance with their constitutions.
“Those documents (constitutions) are not prepared by the leadership but members,” said Oduor.
“If you violate the constitution, obviously the Registrar of Trade Unions will be on your neck,” he said.
vachuka@standardmedia.co.ke
