Teacher elections in Kenya

By David Aduda
The Nation (Nairobi)

Teachers go to the polls next week in Kenya to elect their national officials and for the first time in a generation, they will be without their charismatic leader Ambrose Adeya Adongo.

The election is also coming at a time when a rival union - Kenya Union of Post-Primary Teachers (Kuppet) - is pushing to represent a section of the teaching force.

At least some 2,000 Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) delegates are expected to take part in the election slated for June 20 at the Kasarani Sports Centre.

National officials, including the chairman, Mr John Katumanga, first vice national chairman, Mr Joseph Chirchir and the second vice-national chairman, Mr Amos Ngocho Njoroge, will be defending their seats.

The national treasurer, Mr Peter Mutulu, and his assistant, Mr Fred Ontere, are also running.

The focus, however, will be on the top post - that of the secretary-general - left vacant following the death of Mr Adongo in March.

As things stand, the post will go to Mr Francis Ng'ang'a, who has been holding forte since Mr Adongo's demise.

So far, nobody has emerged to challenge Mr Ng'ang'a. And even if anybody was to come up at the polling station, he or she would find the going rough.

Having served as Mr Adongo's deputy for eight years and sat on the top seat for some months, Mr Ng'ang'a will certainly have a headstart over any contender.

With the elevation of Mr Ng'ang'a, his erstwhile assistant, Mr Lawrence Majali, will be going for the post of deputy secretary-general.

A vacant seat is that of the assistant secretary-general. Since the union puts a premium on regional representation, that post has been reserved for a candidate from Nyanza.

But even in Nyanza, the seat has been earmarked for a candidate from the Luo districts, the argument being that Kisii is already represented at the national office in the person of Mr Ontere, the assistant national treasurer.

In an attempt to ensure that the seat does not slip from their fingers, the Nyanza Provincial Council recently met and endorsed a single candidate, Mr David Okuta Osiany, to vie for the job.

Mr Osiany is the current Nyando branch executive-secretary and Nyanza's representative at the national executive council.

Initially, a number of candidates from the region had expressed their interest in that post, including the articulate and versatile Siaya branch executive-secretary, Mr William Ohonde, and his Kisumu counterpart, Mr Oketch Hongo.

Perhaps, the duo will now fight for a position in the national executive council. Given his background as a former secondary school principal and the longest serving branch official in the region, Mr Ohonde should be elected to represent the province in the national executive council.

Whatever the case, those who will be elected have to brace up for tough challenges ahead, key among them being sustaining the quest for the implementation of higher salaries for teachers as was agreed with the Government in 1997.

Under the agreement, the teachers were to receive a salary increase ranging between 150 to 200 per cent.

Thus far, Mr Katumanga and Mr Ng'ang'a have made it clear that implementation of the salary deal is high on their agenda after the election.

The leaders will also have to find ways of containing the feeling among post-primary school teachers that their interests are not adequately taken care of by Knut.

To this end, Knut will have to start projects aimed at empowering teachers at the professional level and improving their standing in society. These include training and staff exchange programmes.

It is instructive that the union used to run some training programmes for secondary science and mathematics teachers in collaboration with the Danish Union of Teachers. These need to be intensified.

Similarly, the union needs to strengthen its outreach programmes where it provided training and expertise to school-based representatives.

Another issue to grapple with is how to accommodate more post-primary school teachers in the union's leadership. A common argument has been that the union's leadership is dominated by primary school teachers, who because of numbers and historical reasons, are able to win seats at the branch and national levels.

The trend, however, is changing. In the just concluded branch elections, for instance, at least 36 districts elected secondary school teachers to various positions.

Notwithstanding that, a point that ought to be made is that the union need to think of introducing an affirmative action, where certain slots are reserved for post-primary school teachers. Although that idea had been shot down in the past, it is worth revisiting now that undercurrents of disenchanted are emerging from certain quarters.

At any rate, some slots have been slotted for the women at the branch and the national level. Arguably, an affirmative action for secondary school teachers is an idea whose time has come.

A historic event by all counts, the forthcoming elections should give Knut a new impetus to re-define its strategies to be able to confront challenges ahead.

Sourced from: allAfrica.com