Leadership wrangles at the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has intensified with embattled Secretary-General Wilson Sossion seeking police security to access the union’s offices in Nairobi.
In an urgent request to the Employment and Labour Relations Court, Mr Sossion had sought to be given security to access Knut offices on Mfangano Street.
Justice Maureen Onyango, who certified the matter as urgent, on Friday ordered that Mr Sossion be accorded the security that he needs.
Early this month, the ODM nominated MP who was deregistered as a Knut official by the Registrar of Societies, challenged the legality of Knut National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in which he was ousted.
The trade unionist had argued that Knut’s NEC illegally convened a meeting and purported to remove him despite a court order stopping the meeting or his removal from office.
Mr Sossion has been put under pressure from some Knut NEC members to quit following a fallout with the Teachers Service Commission and senior teachers over the execution of the Sh54 billion 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Mr Sossion has sued 27 NEC members.
Another Employment and Labour Relations Court judge, Justice Hellen Wasilwa is set to issue a ruling next week on whether Mr Sossion will be thrown out office or not.
Justice Wasilwa is set to rule on September 24 on whether the order that granted Mr Sossion reprieve remain in place or if will be set it aside.
The judge extended the order barring the official’s removal from office until after a hearing in which his opponents disclosed intrigues that led to Mr Sossion’s ouster.
Mr Sossion’s opponents allege that he was aware of the August 29 meeting in which his conduct would be discussed. They also alleged that he sought court protection to cripple the union’s affairs.
They want him stopped from continuing to serve as the Knut secretary-general and accessing the union’s bank accounts.
In March, Mr Sossion was locked out of Knut offices by people he termed as goons hired by his colleagues with strict instructions to block him from accessing his office.
