Raila Endorsement Splits Kuppet
The endorsement of the Azimio la umoja presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga by a section of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) officials has caused a stir in the union, with some leaders maintaining that KUPPET is non-partisan. This is after a KUPPET official has distanced the union from an endorsement of Raila Odinga as a preferred presidential candidate for the August 9 poll.
According to KUPPET national vice treasurer Ronald Tonui, the move by some officials to endorse the candidate are personal.
Tonui maintained that as a union, they will continue to remain independent on matters politics and that positions taken at an individual level will not be interpreted to imply that that was their stand.
“I want to dissociate myself from the reports that KUPPET has endorsed the Azimio la Umoja candidate as their most preferred presidential candidate in the forthcoming election,” Tonui said.
“We have never endorsed any party as our visionary leader since issues to do with politics are personal and cannot be institutionalized,” added Tonui.
Over 30 KNUT and KUPPET members comprising of teachers and union officials from Kiambu on Wednesday held a breakfast meeting with Azimio’s running mate Martha Karua where they agreed to rally behind Odinga.
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Led by KNUT secretary general Collins Oyuu and Kuppet secretary-general Akello Misori, the team noted that through the azimio la umoja manifesto, more teachers are going to be employed and that salaries are going to be reviewed.
Tonui argued that the politicization of unions was one aimed at nothing but killing and tainting its image, considering the woes that befell KNUT a while back.
“A lot should be derived from the 2017 endorsement of ODM by KNUT partisan party an action that almost finished it for we do not know what awaits us in the coming government,” said Tonui.
He added that the choice to endorse or elect a leader is a personal democratic right that cannot extend to the union as it might lead to division.
“Teachers should never be divided based on individual interests on political parties or leaders it should be a personal approach,” he added.
He added teachers should be focusing on articulating their issues in a more sober manner rather than taking political sides.
