By E, KNA
Malindi Kenya National Union of Teacher (KNUT) Branch Executive Secretary, Moses Mramba, has retained his seat unopposed in a poll marred by missing names and the rejection of most of his allies.
Mramba, who has served the branch for the last five consecutive years, was declared victorious after his main challenger was disqualified at the last minute, when it was discovered that he was not a member of the union.
Those shown the door by teachers in the polls presided over by Kilifi County Labour Officer Justus Gachoki included Assistant Executive Secretary Felix Kagohu, who was trounced by Justus Mwarandui Nzai.
Nzai garnered 729 votes against Kagohu’s 276. Long serving branch Treasurer Rhoda Gogo was also shown the door after he was beaten by George Kombe Yeri, who amassed 729 votes against the incumbent’s 276.
The branch has also a new chairperson, Francis Baya Kazungu, who beat Silas Karisa Kombe with 644 votes, against Kombe’s 347 votes, in the poll that equally saw Lois Saida Charo re-elected unopposed as Vice Chairperson.
Mercy Muthoni Ndung’u, the KNUT’s Second National Woman Representative, who supervised the elections on behalf of National Chairman Collins Oyuu, described the election as free and fair.
However, Ndung’u acknowledged that there were hiccups at the beginning of the exercise, when some teachers did not find their names in the KNUT’s voters’ register and were barred from participating in the exercise.
She explained that some of the teachers’ names were affected by what she termed as a porous boundary, where the names of some teachers had been inadvertently included in the registers of other sub counties.
She also said that some of the teachers were not members of the union, although they were paying agency fees and asked them to regularize their union membership.
Earlier, teachers from Watamu zone protested that their names were missing in KNUT voters’ register, despite being paying members of the union.
They threatened to take legal action against the union for denying them their rights, while others said they would defect to the rival Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUNSET) if their grievances were not addressed adequately.