A defiant faction of teachers in Migori County has declared open war on the local leadership of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), branding them betrayers who pocket dues while ignoring members’ pleas.
The revolt erupts just as Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers—most still trapped inside primary school compounds—revive their nationwide cry for independence, handing the rebels fresh ammunition.
At the eye of the storm stands Mr. Ken Boro, a battle-scarred tutor running for the second time to become branch Executive Secretary.
Having lost narrowly to the incumbent, Mr. Orwa Jasolo, Boro now leads Team Reformists in a county-wide crusade to “rescue the union from careerist bureaucrats.”
“Every month we surrender our salaries, yet roads to promotion remain blocked, transfers turn punitive, and our voices vanish in Nairobi,” Boro thundered to a packed hall in Migori Town over the weekend.“And when JSS teachers beg for autonomy, our leaders offer only silence.”
Interestingly, the executive secretary’s position is equally being eyed by Mr Maurice Otunga, the current branch chairman and Mr Jasolo’s political ally turned bitter rival.
Audit Now, Accountability Forever
From Nyatike to Kuria, reformists demand a forensic probe into union coffers. They point to opaque tenders, missing branch receipts, and welfare schemes that exist only on paper.
“Our predecessors bled for salary scales and delocalisation rules. Today’s office bearers guard their allowances while those gains rot,” Mr Kenneth Obiero who is seeking the position of assistant executive Secretary teacher noted in a thin-veiled attack on their rivals
The branch, members say, has become a private club. Grassroots voices go unheard; national negotiations yield crumbs.
“They have been in the office for a record whole term with nothing tangible to show, only quest for positions which they use to propel their personal vendetta,” Mr Boro said.
In Migori’s merged schools, JSS tutors endure extra sting—ordered about by primary heads, denied labs, and paid intern wages for graduate work.
National Fires Stoke Local Flames
January 2026 branch elections loom against a backdrop of KUPPET chaos countrywide. Nomination fees have ballooned to KSh 500,000 for top posts, constitutional tweaks sit suspended by court order, and Secretary-General Akelo Misori stands accused of watching passively as the Competency-Based Curriculum falters.
In Migori, Misori and Jasolo are the prime targets. Reformists call them spectators while JSS colleagues march in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Embu, waving placards that read “Delink Us Now.”
Boro’s team has folded the autonomy battle into its manifesto, promising to turn KUPPET into the spearhead the fight deserves.
Neither Misori nor Jasolo has responded to the accusations with a source close to the branch dismissing the uproar as “poll-time theatre.”
Boro Rides the Second Wave
The candidate treats his earlier defeat as dress rehearsal. Younger teachers and JSS interns pack his rallies, hungry for a union that fights rather than files press releases.
From Suna East to Sori, the message is identical: enough is enough.
Madam Joyce Lucia Lunani, a veteran from Nyatike summed it up: “This vote is not about seats; it is about service. The incumbents have been unable to explain to us why the huge deductions, yet there are no projects commensurate to the deductions here on the ground
Background: Why JSS Teachers Want Out
According to Joyce who is seeking the post of the branch’s assistant treasurer, Kenya’s 2-6-3-3-3 curriculum, launched in 2017, carved Junior Secondary (Grades 7-9) as a distinct bridge between primary and senior secondary.
Yet when the first Grade 7 class arrived in 2023, the government—short on classrooms and cash—parked them inside primary schools under the “Comprehensive School Model.”
Primary heads, often diploma holders, became JSS principals by default. University-trained JSS teachers found themselves taking orders from bosses unfamiliar with adolescent pedagogy, secondary timetables, or science labs.
Funding followed primary budgets; laboratories, workshops, and sports fields stayed dreams.
Workloads swelled, promotions froze, and some interns still earn KSh 17,000 a month.By mid-2025 the dam broke. Marches, petitions, and strike threats swept the country.
Unions sued the Education Cabinet Secretary and TSC, demanding standalone JSS governance. KUPPET promised action; many members heard only echoes.
In Migori, that silence has become Mr Boro’s loudest campaign trumpet. His course has been emboldened by a wave of vocalists who are keen to speak up for the teachers in the Junior section
Mr Bernard Bonyo, an aspirant for the vice Chairperson called on Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to consider retaining intern teachers on permanent and pensionable terms.
“There are already enough funds allocated to hire the intern teachers on permanent basis. Their internship ends this December, and the employer must be clear on the next course of absorption,” Bonyo said.
As ballots near, the county watches a classic showdown: an exhausted old guard versus a reformist surge determined to drag the union—kicking and screaming—back to the classroom.
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