KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion. The union has had rough times in the recent times. [Photo/zipo.co.ke]
The Kenya National Union of Teachers has suspended their by-elections to replace their national chairman Mudzo Nzili to June next year.
The vice chairman Wycliffe Omuchei will act as chairman from December and will also preside over the annual delegates’ conference meeting as Nzili takes leave.
The decision was made by the union’s national executive council in Mombasa on Thursday.
Last week, the union’s Secretary General Wilson Sossion said that the constitution requires officials to retire six months prior to their due date.
Sossion then introduced Omuchei as action chairman of the union, a decision that was met resistance from Nzili, who wrote a letter to the Ministry of Labour saying he was yet to reach the retirement age.
Nzili’s letter received a favorable response as the ministry stopped the December by-elections.
“The bone of contention that we have resolved was for us to be effectively replaced by election this December, so the message that should go is not because we were refusing to go for retirement, but we were resisting to be replaced in a by-election,” said Nzili.
However, Sossion insists that the retirement plan remains, and it is for the good of the union.
“The six months leave mandatory pending retirement remains to be sustained by the union for good reasons, and therefore, the national executive council, Mudzo Nzili has not been opposed to retirement,” said Sossion.