Sossion on being next Education CS: ‘Only Ruto can say that’

Sossion, who is a former nominated MP, was a key campaigner of Dr. Ruto under the Kenya Kwanza Alliance coalition which saw him elected as Kenya’s fifth president. 

The unionist however says his work in Kenya Kwanza was to help come up with a manifesto and popularise it, and that he did not lobby for any cabinet position in Ruto’s administration.

“The president decides who serves where,” Sossion told K24 TV on Wednesday when asked if he is up for the Education Cabinet Secretary or Permanent Secretary posts.

“I do not have, any pre-election agreement on that particular job and we do not lobby, the president will decide where you will serve," he added. 

Sossion nonetheless lauded Kenya Kwanza’s education charter as a key tool in transforming the education sector and the welfare of teachers.

“My business was to support Kenya Kwanza in its philosophy of the bottom-up economic model. It was in drafting the charter and I’m happy because the charter is good for education and teachers,” he said.

“Whatever else happens after here is not within my power. We finished our engagement with the president as Kenyans at the ballot box. Beyond the ballot box, the president will make his own arrangements and appoint whoever he thinks.”

The firebrand unionist resigned as KNUT Sec-Gen in June last year amid wrangles within the union and frosty relations with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

He had been at the forefront of KNUT politics since 2013, and also served as a Nominated Member of Parliament, having joined the National Assembly in 2017 through ODM Party. 

As the Kenya Kwanza administration takes over from the Jubilee regime, among the reforms its proposes is the establishment of a national education fund to mobilise grants, bursaries and scholarships from private and public sponsors to cater for non-tuition costs.

Under his education charter, Ruto plans to bridge the 116,000 teacher deficit in public schools within two financial years by employing 58,000 teachers annually from the over 300,00 trained but unemployed teachers in the country.

This he hopes to achieve through the Ksh.25 billion his government plans to pour into the plan. 

Ruto also proposes to double funding for school feeding from Ksh.2 million to Ksh.4 million, build low-cost boarding schools in arid areas and increase the number of vocational training centres, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions.

In the meantime, the former deputy president is set to be sworn in as Head of State at the Moi International Sports Complex, Kasarani, on Tuesday, September 13, a day that has since been declared a public holiday.