KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori was on Saturday, September 13, forced to cut short his speech after being heckled in front of President William Ruto during a gathering of more than 10,000 teachers at State House.
Misori, who leads the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), had taken the podium to press for a review of the government’s policy that domiciles Junior Secondary School (JSS) in primary schools under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). KUPPET has consistently opposed the policy, instead advocating that JSS be transferred to secondary schools.
“Some of the education frameworks that have come into our education sub-sector require serious interrogation. One such is that as much as we have more access and more affordability of learners in our junior schools, something that was ignored and must be interrogated further is the domiciling of Junior School in Primary School,” Misori told the gathering, drawing cheers from his members.
But his remarks sparked a storm from rival officials of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), who booed and heckled him repeatedly. Misori tried to press on — “I must say this because one element—” — before being drowned out once more, forcing him to pause his speech.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok stepped in to restore order. “We have heard you members. His Excellency has heard you, let’s be quiet, please,” he pleaded, allowing Misori to resume briefly and pivot to another concern — calling for more funding for the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to facilitate teachers’ promotions.
The chaotic scenes unfolded despite a week of careful preparation. Just days earlier, PS Bitok had chaired a consultative meeting with teachers’ unions and head teachers’ associations at Jogoo House to set the agenda for the high-level State House dialogue. The meeting had brought together KNUT, KUPPET, the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET), the Kenya Primary School Heads Association (KEPSHA), and the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA).
President Ruto, who later addressed the teachers, steered clear of the heckling and instead sought to reassure the profession of his administration’s commitment to education. He described teachers as “Kenya’s greatest resource and patriots,” adding that his government had expanded the education budget from Sh540 billion to Sh702 billion in three years — the biggest jump in the country’s history.
The President further highlighted that 76,000 teachers had been recruited since 2022, with the number set to reach 100,000 by January to ease classroom congestion. He also pointed to the construction of 23,000 classrooms, reforms in CBC to ensure a smoother transition, the launch of the Open University of Kenya, and the introduction of a student-centred higher education funding model.
Yet the heckling incident underscored the simmering rivalries within Kenya’s teachers’ unions and the broader unease over education reforms. While Ruto cast his administration as the most teacher-friendly in Kenya’s history, the divisions between KNUT and KUPPET played out in full view of the Head of State — a reminder that consensus within the teaching fraternity remains elusive.
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