From TSC critic to commissioner: The irony of Sossion's return

Former Kenya National Union of Teachers Secretary General Wilson Sossion. [File, Standard]

Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion is on the verge of one of the most remarkable comebacks in Kenya's education sector.

This is after President William Ruto nominated him to serve as a commissioner of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) — the very institution he spent years battling over teachers' rights, labour policies and education reforms.

If approved by the National Assembly, Sossion will replace outgoing commissioner Mbage Njuguna Ng'ang'a, joining the nine-member constitutional commission responsible for registering teachers, recruiting and deploying educators, promoting and disciplining teachers, and managing the country's teaching service.

His nomination comes at a defining moment for the Commission, which is overseeing teacher recruitment, promotions, deployment, implementation of the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system, preparations for senior school and the continued implementation of the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) that Sossion vehemently opposed during his days as KNUT Secretary-General.

Between December 2013 and June 2021, Sossion transformed KNUT into one of the country's most vocal and confrontational trade unions.

His leadership was defined by relentless pressure on the TSC to improve teachers' welfare and what he described as the protection of the dignity of the teaching profession.

His frequent declaration was that "teachers deserve respect, fair remuneration and professional recognition," a philosophy that shaped virtually every engagement between KNUT and the employer.

Under his stewardship, the union demanded full implementation of the 2017–2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), payment of salary increments, recognition of higher academic qualifications, better allowances and accelerated promotions.

He also led fierce campaigns against teacher delocalisation, arguing that transferring thousands of teachers away from their families was inhumane and disruptive to learning.

Perhaps his biggest battles, however, revolved around the TSC's reform agenda. Opposition to CPG, TPAD and TPD

Among the policies Sossion opposed most strongly was the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG), which replaced the Schemes of Service for teachers.

KNUT argued that the new framework denied teachers automatic promotion after acquiring higher academic qualifications by making promotions competitive and tying career advancement to available vacancies and administrative positions.

"Career Progression Guidelines have abused the labour and professional rights of teachers," Sossion argued repeatedly during union meetings.

He maintained that under the previous Schemes of Service, teachers who upgraded their qualifications automatically progressed to higher grades, motivating continuous professional growth.

"From Job Group M and above, it was competitive promotion that inspired teachers to perfect their performance as professionals. CPG has since rubbished this mode of promoting teachers," he said at the height of the dispute.

Ironically, if Parliament approves his nomination, Sossion will become one of the commissioners overseeing the very Career Progression Guidelines he fought to abolish.

The same applies to the Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programme.

In 2019, Sossion rejected TSC's proposal requiring teachers to contribute Sh500 monthly towards professional training.

"There is that teachers' professional development module that they want to force teachers to pay every month from their earnings. A salary is negotiated," he said.

Instead, he insisted that the Commission should fully finance mandatory professional training.

He equally criticised the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) system, describing it as punitive, bureaucratic and an unnecessary burden on classroom teachers. The CBC confrontation

Sossion's disagreements with TSC extended beyond labour issues into education reforms.

He became one of the strongest critics of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), questioning both its preparedness and implementation.

KNUT opposed mandatory teacher training for CBC unless sufficient resources, infrastructure and teacher support mechanisms were put in place.

During the standoff, the union demanded reinstatement of more than 280 teachers who had allegedly been interdicted, suspended or dismissed over protests related to CBC training programmes.

Years later, Sossion now finds himself nominated to help oversee implementation of the expanded Competency-Based Education framework, including preparations for senior school.

Perhaps no conflict defined Sossion's tenure more than the prolonged dispute over KNUT membership.

Beginning in 2019, TSC progressively stopped deducting union dues from thousands of teachers, leading to a dramatic decline in KNUT's membership and financial base.

At one point, Sossion claimed more than 153,000 teachers had been removed from the union payroll, reducing membership to just over 34,000.

He accused the Commission of deliberately crippling the union.

"All these matters have remained unresolved... TSC has continued to cripple the operations of KNUT by attacking the check-off system, systematically diminishing the resources of the union," he wrote in a 2020 letter to then Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui.

According to Sossion, over 110 KNUT branch offices were shut, staff lost salaries and medical cover, properties were auctioned, and the union struggled to organise its Annual Delegates Conference.

He repeatedly accused TSC of manipulating the union register to weaken KNUT and encourage teachers to abandon the organisation.

"This is a strong indication of a wide and well-choreographed strategy to kill KNUT," he said then.

After accepting nomination to Parliament by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) following the 2017 General Election, TSC removed his name from the Register of Teachers through a Gazette Notice in 2019, arguing that his political office was incompatible with his status as a teacher.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court initially upheld the Commission's action.

However, in February 2026, the Court of Appeal partly vindicated Sossion by ruling that while TSC had grounds to act, it had violated mandatory disciplinary procedures under the Code of Regulations for Teachers by failing to accord him a proper disciplinary hearing.

The judges affirmed that every employee is entitled to due process regardless of the reasons for termination.

Earlier this year, questions over his teacher registration also featured prominently when he signalled interest in returning to contest the KNUT Secretary-General position, further highlighting his long-running legal and institutional battles with the Commission.