A Sh72,000 payment has emerged at the heart of former Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary-general Wilson Sossion’s failed bid to return to the union’s top office, with the court ruling that the money did not restore his membership.

📋 Breaking It Down

Mr Sossion, now serving as a member of the Teachers Service Commission, sued on March 2026, challenging his exclusion and arguing that the payment of his union dues made him eligible to contest the Secretary-General position in the April 2026 elections.

But the Employment and Labour Relations Court has dismissed his petition after finding that paying the dues did not revive his membership or override Knut’s constitutional requirements for eligibility.

“The provisions of section 31(1) and (4) (a) of the Labour Relations Act did not grant the first petitioner the absolute right to contest for the position of the Secretary General," said Justice Jacob Gakeri.

📌 What You Need to Know

He sued alongside Martha Omollo, a Knut member and teacher at Harambee School in Nairobi, who was also challenging her exclusion from the race for Deputy Secretary-General.

Kenya National Teachers Pressure Group spokesperson Martha Omollo addresses journalists in Nairobi on October 4, 2021.

The dispute began after Mr Sossion wrote to Knut Secretary-General Collins Oyuu on February 18, 2026, expressing interest in contesting the union’s top position.

He had paid Sh72,000 into Knut’s KCB account on November 7, 2025, covering dues he said ran from July 2022 to June 2026. The union later returned the money on December 31 without explanation, according to his petition.

Mr Sossion made another payment on February 27, 2026, and sent the deposit slip to the union. He argued that this made him compliant with Section 33 of the Labour Relations Act.

Read: New rules, old rivalries: Sossion, Oyuu question hangs over Knut’s 2026 poll roadmap

📰 Source: Nation Africa