Row rages over Sossion suspension

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) officials from Kisumu County have told Secretary General Wilson Sossion to quit office after he was struck off the teachers' register.

Led by Executive Secretary Joshua Ogallo, they demanded Sosssion’s resignation, claiming he no longer had a mandate to lead the union.

This is after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) reportedly struck him off the teachers register thus throwing his leadership into controversy.

Ogallo threatened that they would team up with other branches, move to Nairobi to eject Mr Sossion if he did not leave in the next week.

But in reaction to the calls, Sossion warned against any attempt to force him out of office by anybody or branch and affirmed that he was a legitimate holder of the office.

This is even as Mr Ogallo insisted that the ODM legislator had no obligation to represent the teachers after TSC relieved him of additional responsibilities as a teacher.

''We want Sossion to resign and concentrate on his new noble role as a nominated member of Parliament. He can still fight for our rights in the August House,'' said Ogallo.

Sossion had appealed the decision by TSC to de-register him as a teacher but lost the case, giving the teachers' employer the ammunition to fight him.

Over the weekend, in an interview with the Standard, Mr Sossion laughed off the threats by the Kisumu teachers and accused them of having been compromised.

"I am in KNUT to stay. Nobody should try to interfere with my work because I was elected by the Teachers of Kenya and not Kisumu only,'' he said

He asserted: "I am not shaken because this is not the first time they are trying to do this.''

Sossion spoke during a fundraiser in aid of Adongo Deya Secondary school.