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Tuesday, March 22, 2022 –Teachers’ giant union has endorsed presidential candidate Raila Amollo Odinga as their preferred candidate in the August 9 general elections.
Making this confirmation on Monday March 21, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General, Collins Oyuu, urged all members to throw their weight behind Azimio la Umoja. He added that there were all signs that any Azimio candidate will be winning the elections to be held in August.
He was addressing this in their KNUT Annual General Meeting held on Monday, March 21, in Migori County where hundreds of teachers were in attendance.
The teachers’ union boss reasoned that all teachers were following in the footsteps on the head of State who had already endorsed Raila Odinga for the presidential race.
“For us as Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), we don’t have otherwise. If we want to follow and work with the government of the day, and if the government of the day has endorsed Raila as the fifth President, whom I am I to take a different direction? I am telling you, we are in Azimio,” Oyuu stated.
He added that it was not possible to fight the government of the day and that as a union, they will always side with the ruling outfit. He also noted that a trade union is a political formation and therefore they cannot be separated from national politics.
Oyuu, nonetheless, said not all teachers may agree with his remarks but it was his feeling that they all agree to vote for the Azimio candidate.
“I’m not pushing any person into ODM, what I’m pushing is to support the government of the day, and the government of the day is Azimio,” said Oyuu.
The secretary general, according to his reasoning, said teachers were suffering in the country and it was time to support government so that some of their welfare concerns could be addressed amicably without unnecessary old style industrial actions.
This endorsement will however elicit mixed reactions from member teachers some who pay allegiance to their tribesmen.
