Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has called for swift investigations at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) over rampant cases of corruption.
Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Monday, September 2, 2024, Sossion who has since called for the restructuring of the TSC, disclosed that the commission was marred with cases of corruption which drag the country’s education system behind.
He revealed that teachers were dishing out bribes as high as Ksh500,000 to secure employment in schools.
The EX-KNUT Secretary General argued that most teachers were getting jobs through graft yet the positions had not been advertised.
“For you to be employed as a P1 teacher you must pay Ksh350,000 and some of these employment letters are sold through government officers. To be employed as a graduate is Ksh500,000 and to be promoted is Ksh150,000, where will a poor teacher get money to do that?” He posed.
Sossion says the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the auditor general should conduct a forensic audit at the TSC to bring to light key issues ailing the country’s education sector including teachers employment, and how teachers have been promoted for the last five years.
He also wants the three bodies to probe the financial system and transactions particularly remittances of third parties where TSC gets kickbacks audit on policies that are unconstitutional and illegal.
“The situation at TSC is a situation where angels would weep because of the magnitude of corruption, this requires a forensic audit by the auditor general, DCI, and the EACC, this may necessitate sending of the commissioners and chair home. If we are serious about regaining our lost glory of being the top most country in delivering quality education,” Session said.
Adding;
“I’m willing to be a witness in all these forensic processes as an insider who has worked in this space. I am ready to defend it in a court of law or anywhere because this is a very serious matter. We are talking about the destruction of the lives of the children of this country.”
