Knut to vote on whether to accept President Uhuru Kenyatta's deal today

KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) officials will meet today to discuss a deal reached with President Kenyatta.

A communication from the union confirmed that the National Executive Council meets today to make a decision on teachers’ pay dispute.

It also emerged that the matter shall further be deliberated on Friday by Knut Advisory Council, before a final position is adopted.

At the centre of the controversy is whether the giant teachers union should settle for the pay deal brokered by the President, or the matter be taken to the Supreme Court for judicial determination. The thorny issue has been the subject of a sharp division among the top leadership of Knut, with Secretary General Wilson Sossion pushing for the matter to go for judicial determination.

DEAL NOT DISCUSSED

But the six union Steering Committee members who attended last week’s State House meeting have stood firm, saying teachers must get their September salaries, and union dues released to end the financial problems the union is currently experiencing.

The officials argue that teachers and union staff across the country are broke, and rejecting the deal will make the situation worse.

But Mr Sossion says the September salaries and union dues are a right that the union must not beg for.

Sossion last week declined to attend an in-house meeting convened by national Chairman Mudzo Nzili and said that any decision taken in his absence is null and void.

On Monday, Sossion returned to the office and held a brief consultation with other union officials, paving way for the Tuesday Steering Committee meeting.

Sources at the meeting told The Standard that the State House deal was not discussed as the matter was left for the union’s top decision-making organ to discuss today.

“We only set the agenda for the Thursday and Friday meetings. That is all we did. We did not talk about any pay deal,” said Mr Nzili after the Tuesday meeting.

Union officials said a vote to reject the State House deal means the union is ready to reject the three offers presented to it by the President. On the other hand, adopting it means foregoing the 50-60 per cent salary demand.