No Surprises At The Thika KNUT Branch Election Results

The Thika Branch KNUT elections that were held Saturday at Gatumaini Primary School produced  no major surprises or upsets as virtually all the incumbent office bearers retained their seats. Branch Executive Secretary Mr. Joe Mungai Ngige retained his seat after beating his closest rival with more than 200 votes. The same applied to the Branch Treasurer Mr. Julius Chege and his Assistant Mr. James M. Kamau.

The branch now have a new Chairperson Mr. John Kuria who won the seat with a majority votes. Out-going Chairperson Mr. J.B. Maina did not contest for he was not eligible for another term.

Other winners included Chege D.K. (Vice Chair), Mark Wamuthenya (Assistant Executive Secretary), James M. Kamau (Ass. Treasurer), Sabina Nyambura Kariuki (Women Representative) and Solomon Gachina Ngugi (Persons With Disability). Others were B.E.C members from the various clusters in the branch.

An ecstatic Ngige thanked all the teachers who participated in the polls for the way they conducted the exercise in a very peaceful and organised manner. He said that now that the elections were over, all the teachers should put the polls behind them and join hands to build a stronger union.

He added that his was to continue with the agenda that had been in place and that is to ensure that the teachers' rights in the region were respected and their welfare looked into at all times. He urged the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to consult with the KNUT office in the issue of the performance contracts since, as stakeholders in the education sector, they too had a stake in the decisions that were arrived at that concerned them.

He added that though they were not opposed to this appraisal issue, it was the duty of the TSC to give the teachers a comprehensive civic education on the matter as it was always the norm when introducing new concepts to any group of people.

"All the teachers are asking for is to first understand this whole appraisal thing. How can one be expected to sign a contract that they know nothing about? TSC should also reciprocate the teachers' efforts by remunerating them well," Mr Mungai said.

He also questioned the computerised form one selection which he said had very suspicious errors. He wondered how two candidates from the same school who had scored the same marks could have one of them discriminated to schools so different in their ranking. He therefore called for a thorough audit of the system to rectify the anomaly.

He also appealed to the TSC to stop blackmailing KNUT through the remittance of the teachers' union dues saying that went against the ideals of proper workmanship and would only hurt the education system.

The newly elected chair Mr. Kuria was just short of words but thanked all who participated in the exercise. He appealed to everyone to forget the past and fight the battle as a unit. he said that he was now the chair to all and would work with each one of them for the success of the Thika teachers and the education of our kids in general. He called for every teacher's support saying that they all had a role to play in the branch's success.