It goes without saying that one Wilson Sossion is a fighter who doesn’t relent on what he believes in. He is the man who led one of the longest teachers’ strikes in the history of industrial action in Kenya. He talked tough and teachers listened to him as he became a persistent irksome creature to the powers that be. For the uninitiated, Mr Sossion is the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) secretary general and a nominated MP on an ODM ticket.
Joining the teachers union
The father of three was a dedicated teacher at Tenwek High School in Bomet county. Sossion, in a interview on Business Daily, recounted how teachers in Bomet urged him to run for the executive secretary position at the branch level. He was a workaholic who loved teaching and interacting with his students. He told the same publication of his teaching days: “I would only leave school once a month to take my salary.” The fiery KNUT secretary general spent most his evenings and mornings guiding and engaging students in extra-curricular activities. Out of his 70 students, 40 scored As in chemistry and agriculture in his last year as a teacher. His colleagues were impressed by Sossion’s dedication and convinced to run for a union leadership position.
Photo/courtesy
Sossion elected
He lost the first time he tried his hands in union politics but rebounded in 2001 winning by a landslide. It only took two months for Sossion to be elected to the national executive council where he was exposed to policy and decision making. Six years later, lady luck smiled on Sossion as he assumed the position second vice national chairman of Knut following the retirement of Joseph Chirchir. He was to later be elected as first vice chairman unopposed. His star kept shinning as he moved up the ladder to the national chair and in 2013, he was requested by members of giant teachers union to serve as the secretary general of KNUT. Next Page
