DRAMA AS KNUT OFFICIAL IS THROWN OUT OF MEETING

There was drama at Nyayo House 15^th Floor Room number eight after the Nairobi County Director of Education Abdi Kadir threw out the Nairobi Branch Knut Executive Secretary Danson Mugwe out of a meeting which had been called to solve a dispute between the Visa Oshwal primary School head teacher Mr. Otieno and the school’s committee. 

In attendance was Abdi Kadir who was to chair the meeting, representatives of the Education ministry, TSC Director Geoffrey Cherongis, Westlands DEO J. Mburu and Visa Oshwal Committee members.

According to well-placed sources, the meeting was called to order through a word of prayer and Kadir asked Mugwe to leave the meeting room claiming he could not proceed on with the meeting before the Knut official left the meeting room.

The visibly agitated Mugwe demanded to know why he was being thrown out of the meeting yet he is a Knut official who had been invited to the meeting and that the head teacher was his union member thus he had a right to attend the meeting. Kadir however stood his ground and insisted that Mugwe must leave the meeting room.

A short argument between Mugwe and Kadir ensued and it was the quick intervention of Cherongis who convinced Mugwe to leave the meeting room. Mugwe however left the meeting room terming the decision to lock him out of such a vital meeting as dictatorial.

The meeting was to look into allegations by Visa Oshwal Committee members who had petitioned the Education ministry officials to look into alleged mismanagement by Otieno. 

Sources say Otieno is now the third head teacher of the same school to appear before the committee over same allegations. Sources say that Visa Oshwal committee members have been allegedly involved in witch-hunting any time head teachers block them from accessing money from the school. It is further alleged that they collude with some Jogoo House ministry officials to frustrate head teachers posted at Visa Oshwal. 

Investigations reveal that Visa Oshwal committee members have been in office for so long and that their replacement is long overdue. A case in point is that of the Committee chairman who despite being the chairman is not a parent at the school and this disqualifies him to chair the school committee as this is against the Education Act. 

Mugwe has vowed to take up the matter with the Director of basic Education to ensure that the school elects a new school committee in accordance with the Education Act.

Cases of school heads in Nairobi being intimidated by school committee members has now become the order of the day in Nairobi County. Most of the school committee members collude with ministry officials and more so with Human Resources manager Mr. Kisyanga who has since been transferred after serving for 15 years. He was transferred after KNUT Nairobi branch demanded for his transfer based on the allegations that he was colluding with school committee members to intimidate and harass head teachers. 

Mugwe now say that a good number of Nairobi head teachers are now being held hostage by rogue committee members and decried high level corruption at Jogoo House concerning promotion, transfers and demotion of teachers.