Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has said only the president-elect William Ruto, knows if he is the ideal candidate to head the ministry of education under his government.
Moreover, the former nominated MP, was one of Ruto’s key campaigners of under the Kenya Kwanza Alliance coalition which saw him elected as Kenya’s fifth president.
However, Sossion said his work in Kenya Kwanza was to help come up with a manifesto and popularize it.
He further added that he did not lobby for any cabinet position in Ruto’s administration.
“The president decides who serves where,” Sossion said during an interview with K24 TV on Wednesday when asked if he is up for the Education Cabinet Secretary or Permanent Secretary posts.
“I do not have, any pre-election agreement on that particular job and we do not lobby, the president will decide where you will serve,” he added.
Nonetheless, Sossion lauded Kenya Kwanza’s education charter, saying it is a key tool in transforming the education sector and the welfare of teachers.
“My business was to support Kenya Kwanza in its philosophy of the bottom-up economic model. It was in drafting the charter and I’m happy because the charter is good for education and teachers,” he said.
“Whatever else happens after here is not within my power. We finished our engagement with the president as Kenyans at the ballot box. Beyond the ballot box, the president will make his own arrangements and appoint whoever he thinks.” Sossion added.
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Furthermore, the unionist resigned as KNUT Sec-Gen in June 2021 amid wrangles within the union and frosty relations with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
In addition, Sossion had been at the forefront of KNUT politics since 2013.
He also served as a Nominated Member of Parliament, having joined the National Assembly in 2017 through ODM Party.
Nevertheless, among other reforms the Kenya Kwanza government proposed the establishment of a national education fund to mobilize grants, bursaries and scholarships from private and public sponsors to cater for non-tuition costs.
Likewise, under his education charter, the president-elect plans to bridge the 116,000 teacher deficit in public schools within two financial years by employing 58,000 teachers annually from the over 300,00 trained but unemployed teachers in the country.
Similarly, the Kenya Kwanza boss also said he will double funding for school feeding from Ksh.2 million to Ksh.4 million, build low-cost boarding schools in arid areas and increase the number of vocational training centers, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions.
