Ruto appoints Sossion, Lentoijoni to TSC for six-year term

Former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Wilson Sossion on March 23, 2026.

President William Ruto has appointed former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General  Wilson Sossion and Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Director of Staffing Antonina Lentoijoni as commissioners.

The appointment places both commissioners at the centre of efforts to improve teacher welfare and strengthen the country’s education system over the next six years.

The appointments were made through a special Gazette Notice issued under Article 250(2) of the Constitution and Section 8(10) of the Teachers Service Commission Act.

The notice, signed by President Ruto in his capacity as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, was published by the Government Printer in Nairobi.

The appointments followed the approval of the two nominees by the National Assembly Education Committee, chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly. The committee vetted Sossion and Lentoijoni on August 20, 2026, after their nomination by President Ruto in July.

“The Education Committee, chaired by Julius Melly, met earlier today to consider and adopt its report on the approval hearings of nominees for appointment as members of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC),” Parliament said.

The two now join the commission at a time when the teachers’ employer is under pressure to address staffing shortages, career progression, remuneration, welfare and the demands arising from curriculum reforms.

Lentoijoni brings more than two decades of experience in the teaching and education administration sector. During her vetting, she told MPs that she had 28 years of experience in the teaching service, including nine years as a classroom teacher and nearly 18 years at the TSC.

She became Acting Director of Staffing in July 2022 before being confirmed as substantive director in August 2024. Her responsibilities have included teacher recruitment, deployment, transfers, promotions, workforce planning and disciplinary matters.

She attributed teacher shortages partly to inadequate resources for recruitment and increased staffing requirements following the introduction of Junior Secondary School in primary schools.

Teacher promotions also emerged as a key concern.

“All teachers were promoted in 2017. We have stagnated for nine years,” she said, linking the stagnation partly to the Career Progression Guidelines introduced in 2018.

Lentoijoni said she would support reforms allowing teachers to progress professionally without necessarily leaving classroom teaching for administrative positions. She also pledged to strengthen teachers’ mental-health support.

“I would champion the expansion of mental health programmes to the county level to ensure that all teachers receive the mental health assistance they need,” she told MPs.

Sossion, meanwhile, enters the commission with extensive experience representing teachers from the trade union side. As former KNUT secretary-general, he was often involved in negotiations and disagreements with TSC over teachers’ pay, working conditions and welfare.

Defending his union record during vetting, Sossion said his activism had strengthened rather than weakened the commission.

“I was not pulling down the commission, but I was building the commission,” he said.

He promised to implement policies agreed by the commission while continuing to champion teachers’ interests.

“At the employer's side, it is implemented. So, I will seek to continue implementing the policies that are agreed within the commission that benefit the teachers of Kenya,” he said.

Sossion also pledged to pursue the timely payment of pensions to retired teachers.

“My concern and what I will do is to continue advocating for the director of pension to promptly release the pension to teachers,” he said.