Nandi County Executive Secretary of Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Paul Kipchumba Rotich is nursing face injuries after he was allegedly assaulted by a local secondary school board chair.
Rotich is said to have been assaulted by Jeremiah Ruto, the Board Chairman of AIC Kimong Secondary School, on Friday, March 10, 2023.
Rotich and other two KUPPET officials had gone to the school to represent a teacher who had been invited to appear before the board of management to answer some allegations before he was allegedly slapped by the chair and ordered to move out of the school compound.
“This is very sad that such a person can decide to embarrass the whole proceedings by going physical with me when asked questions that needed substantive answers. He shouted at me, pulled me aside and assaulted me,” Rotich lamented.
Rotich, the long-serving Nandi KUPPET Secretary, told K24 Digital that there was nothing strange as he has been attending such tribunals before and wondered why the school chairman was so personal and harsh to him.
He said the officials visited the school to seek clarifications on why:
- The teacher was informed of the meeting a day to, instead of the mandatory seven(7)days period.
- The allegations were not specific. The principal just gave a list.
- The Board was not well constituted; Executive board and not a full board as per the invitation letter.
- The TSC was not present in the meeting as per the law.
- They were subjecting teachers to numerous disciplinary cases, which led to endless state of fear.
At one point, Rotich said he instructed the other union officials who had accompanied him to remain behind as he went out to consult the union lawyer but Ruto got enraged and moved out of his sitting position and attacked him while on his way out
After normalcy resumed, the principal made a consultation with the sub-county Director of Education, Mr Hamisi, who advised him to proceed with the agenda, minus the disciplinary case.
The union insisted to the principal to also inform the TSC sub-county Director, Mr Kiboi but the union said he refused to act.
The union officials left the school compound after the board meeting was adjourned.
Efforts by the K24 Digital team to get a comment from the School Principal, Livingstone Okomba, didn’t bear any fruit as our calls and text messages went unanswered.
Nandi County Education Director Harrison Wakaba promised to follow up on the incident by engaging Mosop TSC director for investigations and further action.
“I am not aware of the incident but now that you have contacted me for a comment I will make a follow-up, ” the officer noted.
Rotich was treated at Kabiyet Sub-county Hospital at around 5.30 pm and later reported the incident at Kabiyet Police station.
The union executive is set to record a full statement on Monday at 10 am. KUPPET officials from the county are expected to issue a statement at the station.
