Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has hinted at a possible return to the helm of the union in the upcoming April elections.
Speaking during an interview with TV47, Sossion said he had already met the necessary eligibility requirements and was weighing the appropriate time to formally declare his bid.
“Maybe what is remaining for me is to make a concrete pronouncement, which I will do at the right time,” he said.
Sossion was a firebrand unionist whose tough stance against government policies won him admiration from many teachers but also attracted intense opposition from the state.
He served as the Secretary-General of KNUT from December 9, 2013, to June 25, 2021, during which he was at the forefront of negotiations and disputes between teachers and the government.
Sossion’s tenure was marked by intense engagements with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) over issues affecting teachers’ welfare, union membership, and labour rights.
Under his leadership, KNUT became synonymous with hard bargaining, from pushing for salary increments to fighting for better career progression and resisting what the union viewed as encroachments on teachers’ rights.
Those years were also marked by sustained strikes that shut classrooms for weeks at a time as KNUT sought to extract concessions from the government.
Sossion’s battles were not limited to the State House; they were often directly with the TSC, then led by CEO Nancy Macharia.
At the centre of the feud was the 2017–2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and disputes over its implementation.
When TSC failed to implement the salary increases and promotions stipulated in the deal, KNUT, under Sossion, led protests and public campaigns, escalating tensions between the union and the commission.
How Uhuru, TSC Fired Sossion and His Looming KNUT Comeback
The turning point came when Sossion — already a powerful union voice — accepted nomination as a Member of Parliament under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
In 2019, TSC — through a gazette notice signed by Macharia — deregistered Sossion as a teacher, effectively stripping him of his professional status and attempting to force him out of KNUT leadership
“Pursuant to section 30 of the TSC Act, the Commission has removed the name of the individual named hereunder (Sossion) from the Register of Teachers. Further, under the law, the individual cannot engage in teaching in any school,” read the gazette notice.
TSC argued that accepting nomination to Parliament by a partisan political party was inconsistent with his position as a public officer and a teacher under the control and supervision of the commission.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court dismissed Sossion’s attempt to save his position as a teacher in May 2021, following a similar attempt in 2019 that had also failed.
Court Ruling on his Dismissal
However, on February 26, 2026, a three-judge bench comprising W. Karanja, F. Tuiyott, and P. Nyamweya delivered the landmark ruling in Civil Appeal No. 476 of 2019, overturning, in part, a 2019 decision by the Employment and Labour Relations Court that had dismissed Sossion’s petition in its entirety.
The appellate court found that, regardless of the reason for dismissal, TSC had no right to bypass the procedural safeguards provided by law for every teacher.
In a detailed judgment, the bench declared that TSC had sidestepped the disciplinary process set out under regulations 144 to 156 of the Code of Regulations for Teachers (CORT), which requires a formal complaint, investigation, interdiction, and disciplinary hearing.
Instead, the commission used a show-cause process that did not meet the required legal threshold.
“The provisions on summary dismissal under section 44 of the Employment Act cannot be used to exclude compliance with an express procedure for termination which is either provided under statute or by contract,” the judges said.
The court further emphasized a key principle binding all employers.
“Whatever the reasons that arise to cause an employer to terminate the services of an employee, that employee must be taken through the mandatory procedure provided by the law,” the bench held.
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Sossion clarified that the Secretary-General of a trade union need not be an employee in the profession represented by the union, dismissing claims that his prior exit from teaching could lock him out of the race.
He revealed that he had already taken steps to ensure his eligibility would not be questioned, including formally notifying the current KNUT leadership of his intention to run.
“I have ensured that all the protocols for my eligibility are in place,” he said.
According to the former union boss, he has already written to the current Secretary-General Collins Oyuu informing him of his interest in the seat.
He also disclosed that he had cleared his union dues to remain a fully paid member of the organisation.
“I have written to the KNUT Secretary-General Collins Oyuu notifying him of my candidature, and my union dues payments are up to date,” Sossion said.
During the interview, Sossion maintained that he remains eligible to contest for the union’s top position, noting that the KNUT constitution allows individuals who have served as union officials to run for leadership roles.
“Those who qualify to contest for the Secretary-General position in the elections are those who have been officials. I have been a KNUT official in many ranks for over 20 years,” he said.
Sossion had been a TSC-employed teacher since 1993 before being released on leave of absence to serve KNUT.
Following the August 2017 General Election, he was nominated to the National Assembly by ODM under Article 97(1)(c) of the Constitution to represent workers.
TSC issued a show-cause notice in December 2017 and, without subjecting him to the full disciplinary process, terminated his services on January 17, 2018.
Sossion argued in court that the termination denied him his constitutional rights to fair administrative action and fair labour practices, noting that he was never given an oral hearing or taken before a disciplinary committee.
Also Read: Sossion Wants Retirement Age Reduced to Employ Jobless Teachers
State House Meeting Controversy
At one point during the standoff between teachers’ unions and TSC, Sossion was conspicuously absent from a meeting convened by former President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House to calm tensions.
However, Sossion’s then-counterpart, KNUT Chairman Mudzo Nzili, attended the meeting, prompting speculation about the Secretary-General’s absence.
Sossion was reportedly unaware of the meeting at State House, even as Nzili said both had been invited.
Following the meeting, teachers breathed a sigh of relief after Kenyatta directed TSC to pay their September salaries, which the commission had threatened to withhold.
Sossion, however, distanced himself from the deal brokered. He termed it as null and void, stating that he was the sole spokesperson of the union and that decisions reached in his absence are not binding to the union members.
