Knut’s strategy eroded public sympathy for their cause

By Suba Churchill

Kenya: The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) must be still reeling from the debilitating blows it suffered as a result of its 23-day strike that left it with egg on its face.

It is the most memorable strike Knut has called in recent years, not so much for its success as for the setbacks it brought on the leadership and membership of the union.

By the time it was called off, the leadership of Knut was not only in court facing contempt charges, but was later slapped with a hefty Sh20 million fine for its Chairman Wilson Sossion and Secretary General Mudzo Nzili or face a jail term in default.

Knut was also greatly undermined by its rival Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) that rushed to sign a Sh16 billion deal with government as the giant continued to play hardball.

The union had called the strike in pursuit of Legal Notice number 534 it signed in 1997 with the Government, then led by former President Daniel arap Moi.

Successive governments, including that of immediate former President Mwai Kibaki have always found an excuse to stagger the implementation of the deal that covers significant increases in housing, commuter, health and responsibility allowances for teachers.

Teachers constitute the single largest work force and any government in power has always argued that implementation of the deal in full would astronomically increase the public wage bill at the expense of other competing public interests and priorities.

The public wage bill currently stands at Sh 350 billion and President Uhuru Kenyatta, just as his predecessors, did not miss an opportunity to harp on this string.

Special strategy

The teachers were lobbying the authorities to implement their pay deal. Lobbying is mostly associated with civil society activism and is about persuading duty bearers, mostly government to do what a group thinks would be beneficial to its membership or the larger society.

It is the climax of any advocacy initiative requiring its own special strategy. As the teachers must have realised, it is one thing to sign a deal and another altogether to get it implemented.  One lesson that the Knut leadership should learn from its recent experience is that for any advocacy and lobbying initiative to succeed organisation, strategic thinking, information, communication, outreach and mobilisation are required.

The recent strike lacked in these essential ingredients as Knut failed to educate key constituencies, potential allies and the general public on its grievances. It did not help matters that another teachers union - Kuppet and the umbrella Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) did not seem to read from the same page with Knut on the matter.

The teachers strike came barely a month after Members of Parliament (MPs) had called off their own strike. The MPs struck even a more lucrative deal with the once vibrant but now dormant Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

Though most Kenyans did not see the MPs’ agitation for higher salaries and perks as a strike, it was for all intents and purposes a strike. They rejected their pay for three consecutive months, were constantly in the media agitating for better terms, and at one time even threatened not to approve the Budget if their demands were not met. Those who appeared not to support their cause were either roundly condemned or sanctioned.

Even journalists covering parliamentary business incurred the wrath of the legislators. They were locked out of the media centre in Parliament Buildings when the MPs discovered albeit belatedly, the space was required for more pressing parliamentary business!

I do not know whether Knut has sat down to review their strike action but methinks the timing of their industrial action was wrong.

Another public strike immediately after the MPs strike only served to erode potential public support that would have been critical to its success. In any case, the teachers did not just wake up one morning and discovered that their 1997 deal had not been implemented. They knew about it even before the Jubilee coalition formed the government.

Measured gains

Imagine how different the situation would have been had Knut made their pay deal a pre-election issue with all the aspiring presidential candidates and their political formations in the run up to the polls.

Given the sheer number of teachers and the political significance that comes with it, Knut would have extracted specific, measurable achievable, realistic and time-bound (smart) commitments with whichever party or coalition that formed the government.

After failing to get the deal done by the Kibaki government, strategy required Knut to engage with the leading political actors before they got into office and hold the victor(s) to account on their promise.

That is how the civil society nailed the Narc regime on the free primary education programme that has turned out to be one of the successes and legacies of the Kibaki regime. But Knut failed to appreciate the interests, fears and concerns of their opponents and allies.

The union did not reach out to such critical stakeholders as parents, religious leaders, other trade unions and the general public. It remained intransigent even in the face of a hurting public concerned about school children losing time to prepare for national examinations.        

The writer is a human rights activist and trainer in public policy advocacy and lobbying.