Isiolo branch of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) installed Mr. Hassan Diba Halake as the new executive secretary in an election that saw two other officials voted in unopposed.
Mr. Halake was challenged by Abdirizak Kala in the election involving teachers from the County and held at Isiolo Boys Secondary School.
The new branch executive secretary has been in acting capacity following the resignation of Mr. Dadhe Boru who has joined the County government of Isiolo as the County secretary.
Mr. Halake won the contest getting 167 votes against Mr. Kala who got 57 votes in the branch elections where 225 teachers participated.
“I thank all the teachers from the County for electing me and I promise to be loyal to you all and ensure all your rights and interests are catered for by the trade union,” said Halake.
Mr. Timothy Kimathi was also officially announced the branch chairperson while Hussein Sora will serve as the assistant secretary after they were elected unopposed.
The Knut assistant Secretary General Rosalia Mkanjala who was also present during the exercise said that the union is making efforts to address challenges that teachers are facing during their line of duty adding the union was ready to ensure that teachers are guaranteed good working conditions.
Mkanjala said that the union was addressing the government’s delocalization of teachers’ problem noting that the affected personnel faced a lot of family related challenges while working outside their counties of origin adding the employer should post workers to their favourable places.
She also advised teachers to be raising their grievances at the grass roots so that the union could be made aware well in advance and be able to address them adequately at the secretariat level.
The national official said that the union was aware that the majority of the teachers affected by the transfers have their pay slips reflecting their old working places and appealed to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to expedite the changes.
The official further urged the newly employed teachers to join the union so that they get opportunities to jointly address their grievances.
She at the same time urged the local community members and the education stakeholders to work closely to ensure learning in local schools went on smoothly without disruptions so that children from the area can uplift their performance in national exams hence raise the standard of education.
By Ken Mutuma and David Nduro
