Nine of the ten Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Embu Branch officials have retained their seats after the elections held at Kamiu Primary School Grounds in Manyatta Constituency.
Jacob Karura retained his seat as the Branch Executive Secretary for another term of five years after garnering 953 votes to defeat Paul Njagi, who came second with 503 and David Kariuki, who came a distant third with 280 votes.
The Assistant Secretary post once again went to Rogers Murimi, who got 1,078 votes against his only challenger, Amon Mose, who got 645 votes.
John Muriuki was re-elected Branch Treasurer after securing 975 votes against his sole competitor, Munene Muchangi, who managed to secure 813 votes.
Milliam Wawira was re-elected Gender Secretary with 936 votes, defeating her only rival, Salome Syombua, who managed to garner 801 votes.
The new office bearers promised to prioritize the welfare of their members to address the long-standing issues affecting teachers, including stagnation, poor remuneration, shortage and workload and conflict over Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) implementation.
“I want to assure our teachers that I will serve them beyond reproach,” Karura said in his brief statement after being declared Branch Executive Secretary elect by County Labour Officer Lauren Mburu, who oversaw the whole exercise.
He promised to keep fighting for full financial and administrative autonomy of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) to separate them from primary schools that have been a thorn in their flesh.
Teachers have argued that the current set-up of integrating the two levels of learning created a rift between JS teachers and their supervisors, who perceive them as a threat.
“We must keep pushing to make JSS fully autonomous to restore the dignity of our members,” he stated.
On her part, Gender Secretary Ms. Wawira pledged to establish a wellness centre in the county to take care of the mental wellbeing of teachers.
By Samuel Waititu
