Drama As KNUT Delegates Reject Scheme To Extend Officials’ Retirement Age From 60 to 65 Years.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) members on Saturday rejected their leaders’ proposal to raise the retirement age of government officials from 60 to 65 years.
The teachers yelled at the leaders, while others walked out of the special annual delegates conference at Nairobi’s Kasarani stadium.
The proposal to raise the retirement age had been tabled by the union’s leaders and the National Executive Council (NEC) for the delegates to vote on.
Knut also held elections for National Steering Committee members and Assistant Treasurer Ali Abdi Hussein, who died months ago.
Mr Sheikh Kullow has been appointed as the new Knut Assistant National Treasurer, and Mr Kennedy Nyamwanda Ondieki has been appointed as the Deputy National Treasurer.
Patrick Karinga, Chairman of Knut, stated that the new leadership is focused on uniting teachers and will consult widely in an effort to restore industrial harmony among education stakeholders.
“There have been tremendous achievements within the first 100 days of the leadership change,” Mr Karinga said.
The delegates agreed that teacher delocalization should be reconsidered so that those separated from their families can be assisted and, if possible, reunited.
Secretary-General Collins Oyuu told the more than 1,800 Knut delegates from across the country that the NEC would reconvene in Kilifi county on December 4, 2021, and that one of the key issues would be reviewing articles of the constitution that needed to be revised.
Newly elected Knut Deputy National Treasurer, Kennedy Nyamwanda Ondieki, celebrates with supporters at Kasarani stadium Nairobi on February 19 2022.
Another meeting of the National Advisory Council in Nairobi on December 18 agreed that some changes to the constitution were needed, he said.
“In accordance with the Knut constitution article VII (A) 4, the NEC has caused this special delegates conference to pass resolutions to ratify the minimum amendments,” Mr Oyuu said.
The Knut constitution was last reviewed and amended in December 2015, according to the secretary-general.
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Previous reviews, according to the Secretary-General, were conducted in 2013 and 2010.
Mr Oyuu told the Knut delegates that the constitution should be reviewed every five years in order to capture emerging issues and to remove obsolete articles.
Protests that are audible
Teachers, on the other hand, protested vehemently, claiming that an official should retire at the age of 60.
The rejection of the amendment is a setback for a number of Knut leaders, including Mr. Oyuu, who, at the age of almost 60, may only serve as secretary-general for one term.
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Drama As KNUT Delegates Reject Scheme To Extend Officials’ Retirement Age From 60 to 65 Years
