Court blocks Kuppet bid to deduct union fees from JSS teachers

By  Joseph Wangui

Correspondent

Nation Media Group

The Labour Relations court has overturned interim orders requiring the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to deduct agency fees from junior secondary school teachers for the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).

Justice Monica Mbaru ruled that Kuppet could not pursue the deductions through a petition that the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) had withdrawn. Knut withdrew the case on October 16, 2025, and the court closed the file.

“To re-open the proceedings, a party must seek to re-open the file and justify such application. Indeed, as submitted by the petitioner (Knut), closed proceedings should be allowed to rest. Only in exceptional cases should such be reopened for good cause,” she said.

The dispute involves about 9,830 teachers who moved from primary schools to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) after qualifying to teach the secondary school curriculum. Their deployment raised questions about trade union representation, membership choices and deductions from their salaries.

Kuppet argued that it represents post-primary teachers and should receive agency fees from eligible non-members covered by its collective bargaining agreement with TSC.

Knut opposed the deductions, saying the teachers’ deployment to Junior Secondary Schools did not automatically end their existing union membership.

The court found that the original petition filed by Knut in 2018 did not concern agency fees for JSS teachers. It directed that any dispute over the deductions be pursued through separate proceedings, rejecting the attempt to reopen the closed case.

“Where there is good cause, it should be separated from these proceedings, which were closed by an order of October 16, 2025,” Justice Mbaru said.

The court also rejected Kuppet’s request to summon TSC chief executive Evaleen Mitei to explain the commission’s alleged failure to implement the agency-fee order, and to have her jailed for contempt.

“The orders sought against the TSC and the CEO are not justified,” the judge said, vacating the interim orders issued on September 17, 2026.

At the centre of the dispute is the movement of teachers from Knut’s primary-school constituency into junior secondary schools, which fall largely within Kuppet’s post-primary mandate under TSC’s recognition arrangements.

TSC told the court that it had deployed 9,830 primary school teachers after assessing their academic and professional qualifications, budgetary allocations and the shortage of teachers in junior secondary schools. The teachers had applied individually for deployment after acquiring the required qualifications.

TSC’s human resources director, Chrisantose Ogony said the commission recognized three unions with separate mandates: Kuppet for post-primary teachers, KNUT for primary school teachers, and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet) for special-needs teachers and teachers with disabilities.

Ogony said TSC had not interfered with the teachers’ union membership following their deployment. Before moving to junior secondary schools, the teachers had worked in primary schools and belonged to Knut.

The court said the Constitution protect freedom of association and the right to join a trade union of one’s choice. Justice Mbaru noted that Knut had presented letters from teachers seeking to retain their membership.

“Every teacher employed by TSC, including JSS teachers, has the right to join the trade union of choice,” she said.

However, the judge also explained that the law permits agency fees in defined circumstances. Section 49 of the Labour Relations Act allows deductions from eligible employees who are not union members but are covered by a collective agreement negotiated by the union concerned.

Kuppet’s application relied on Legal Notice No 98 of 2018, which it said required TSC to deduct agency fees at 1.8 per cent of basic salary and remit the money within 10 days. The union identified more than 9,831 non-member junior secondary teachers, subject to verification against TSC’s payroll and membership records.

Knut’s general secretary, Collins Henry Oyuu, opposed Kuppet’s bid for orders compelling TSC to deduct and remit agency fees, arguing that the original petition had been withdrawn and the court file closed.

He said the new dispute over JSS teachers’ agency fees was not part of the original case and could not be introduced through proceedings that had already ended. He said the interim orders directed payments to Kuppet without a hearing and could affect Knut’s resources and representative role.

For its part, Kusnet also argued that agency fees should be remitted for eligible non-members within its special-needs constituency, including teachers working in junior secondary schools.

Justice Mbaru did not finally determine every union’s entitlement to fees from JSS teachers. She held that the dispute required properly instituted proceedings and vacated the interim orders, leaving the unions’ competing claims to be addressed through the appropriate legal process.

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