Wilson Sossion wants TSC investigated for massive corruption

Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has opined that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should be investigated over alleged corruption cases.

Speaking to Citizen TV on Monday, Sossion claimed that during his stint at the union, he witnessed rampant corruption including teachers handing out bribes to be employed.

Sossion questioned why new teachers are always onboarded to the teaching workforce yet no advertisements are published, noting that the positions are secured through graft as applicants work in cahoots with government officials.

“For you to be employed as a P1 teacher you must pay Ksh.350,000 and some of these employment letters are sold through government officers. To be employed as a graduate is Ksh.500,000 and to be promoted is Ksh.150,000,” he said.

“I’m willing to be a witness in all these forensic processes as an insider who has worked in this space. I am ready to defend it in a court of law or anywhere because this is a very serious matter. We are talking about the destruction of the lives of the children of this country.”

Sossion therefore called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Auditor General to expeditiously probe the allegations.

“The situation at TSC is a situation where angels would weep because of the magnitude of corruption. This may necessitate sending the commissioners and the CEO home,” he said.

He even advised that the three institutions should focus on four key areas including the financial system and transactions particularly remittances of third parties, how teachers have been employed in the last five years, how teachers have been promoted for the last five years, and a look into unconstitutional policies within TSC.

Sossion decried the deeply-rooted graft in the education sector as the main debacle that is eroding the quality of education in the nation.

This comes amid a teacher’s nationwide strike as teachers have vowed to down their tools until the government heeds their demands.

Some of these demands included permanent employment of 46,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers, promotion of 130,000 teachers, immediate implementation of the second phase of the 2021/2025 amended CBA signed between TSC and KNUT and immediate remittance of the third-party deductions accrued to their respective organisations.

KNUT has said that after holding discussions with TSC, the teachers’ employer said it had promoted 51,232 teachers, remitted the third-party deductions and was in the process of implementing the amended CBA. 

Meanwhile, teachers from the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) have remained adamant on taking the streets demonstrating for better health care, demanding promotions, and confirmation of Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers to permanent and pensionable among other demands.

Oyuu has noted that of all demands being made by the KUPPET teachers, 90% have been addressed, emphasizing that the JSS teachers will be confirmed as permanent employees in a few months time.