The wrangles troubling the education sector have taken a personal spin pitting Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi against Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary general Wilson Sossion.
Prof Kaimenyi now wants the Knut boss jailed for allegedly sending him an offensive SMS.
The Standard on Saturday has established that the CS wants legal action taken against Mr Sossion for allegedly sending him an offensive text after the Garissa University College terrorist attack.
The CS accused the Knut boss of making the matter personal. “We must respect each others' age and position even if we do not like each other,” he said.
On Thursday, police confiscated Sossion’s mobile phone to extract the alleged offensive message.
“They took away my phone to extract the message. Now I want them to make public the message for Kenyans to judge whether it was offensive or not,” said Sossion.
Kaimenyi yesterday said he reported Sossion to the Director of Criminal Investigations for abusing him and disregarding his position as a Cabinet Secretary during the terrorist attack.
“His text read: Shame on you on all these things. You are a disgrace,” claimed the CS.
But Sossion said the message he sent Kaimenyi was ‘not offensive but terse.’ The text was sent on April 2, at about 9.30pm.
“I told him that it is a shame on him for failing to advise the government on matters of security in schools. This attack came a few days after Knut succeeded in reinstating teachers who had been struck off payroll for protesting against insecurity in the Northern region,” said Sossion.
The Knut chief said the CS refused to listen to teachers' concerns regarding insecurity in the region. “That is the time he should have called a stakeholders' meeting to discuss the way forward. But he was busy fighting me and said teachers do not belong to me,” he said.
He said: “It pained me to see innocent children killed in an education institution just days after as a union we raised valid reasons for dialogue on insecurity but we were disregarded.”
“Instead when terrorists struck, he jumped onto a helicopter and rushed to see children being massacred. Why didn’t he use the same urgency to seek stakeholders' roundtable?” Sossion posed.
Central Police DCIO Nehemia Bitok yesterday said the matter is still under investigation.
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“Sossion recorded a statement early in the week and the matter is being investigated. We shall see the way forward once the process is complete,” said Mr Bitok.
The Knut boss narrated how he narrowly escaped police dragnet to lock him up in a cell. He claimed Kaimenyi attempted to block him from attending an international education conference in Korea.
“April 15, I was scheduled to travel to South Korea for an education conference as president of Education International. The CID narrowly missed me in my office. I later realised they trailed me from NHIF where I was attending a board meeting but they lost sight of me somehow,” he said.
Sossion said when he returned from South Korea he presented himself to the DCIO’s office to record a statement.
“When I arrived there they told me that I am under arrest and I should be produced in court. My charge sheet was ready. But the prosecution asked to study my file. That is what saved me. But I was released on a cash bail of Sh20,000,” said Sossion.
He said that same day he was scheduled to travel to Arusha for another education conference. “When I returned, I presented myself to the DCIO’s office on April 28 and they took my phone. As we speak I do not have a phone,” he said.
He said: “Tell teachers that if they call and miss me it is Kaimenyi who has given my phone to the CID.”
Sossion said teachers will not forgive Kaimenyi for trivialising education matters in the country.
“He has been very careless and should have resigned the moment children were killed in college. Up till now schools are not safe because he has failed to advise the government properly,” said Sossion.
“As a union we will not attend his meetings and we shall not engage him. The president should sack him and give the sector another CS. If not we are collecting signatures to kick start his sacking.”
But Kaimenyi said he is a busy man and asked not to be distracted. “As you know me I am a busy man so let us not waste time over this,” he said.
Sossion said a Garissa University College student is still missing several weeks after the attack. “Risper Mutindi Kasyoka, a second year Business Management student at Garissa is nowhere. His parents are always in my office seeking answers and it pains me to tell them I don’t have an answer. Why can’t they investigate where she is,” he said.
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