State of Trade Unions in Kenya: A critique of Francis Atwoli’s current leadership as COTU Secretary-General -By Ohaga Ohaga

I first met the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli back in 2006 when I was a cub-reporter with Kenya Times. It was on May 20, 2006, during his re-election bid held at Tom Mboya Labor College in Kisumu, Kenya.

This was my biggest assignment yet. In attendance wasn’t just the all-powerful, all-domineering COTU Sec-Gen himself but Orange Democratic Movement opposition leader Raila Odinga who by then was a presidential aspirant for the upcoming elections in 2007. There were also talks that the then Labor and Human Resource Development Minister Newton Kulundu, and Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua would attend.

While at the assignment, I observed that the event was well-organized, and the participants remained largely peaceful and calm – an unusual scenario in any Kenyan election.

The reason the election was peaceful was that Francis Atwoli didn’t have any challengers. With the benefit of a hindsight, I learned that COTU SG had allegedly done everything within his power to make sure that he and his Executive Board faced no challengers. This revelation was contained in a Wikileaks dossier. A leaked brief from the USA Economic Affairs station in Nairobi.

During the event, I also noted that Mr. Atwoli was the Master of Ceremony, Moderator, and Chief Speaker of the gathering. Ordinarily, this should not be the case. But because he was the sitting Sec-Gen and with no challenger, he was the man running the show. Mr. Atwoli would emerge ‘victorious’ and delivered his victory speech in ways only he could. Hearty claps and laughs echoed the Hall as he roared and bellowed while the delegates cheered him on. He returned to Nairobi as the SG for another five years.

It’s April 2021 and Mr. Atwoli is still the Sec-Gen of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU). A position he will keep for the next five years. Reminiscent of 2006, Atwoli was elected unopposed after the only challenger and Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) Secretary-General Seth Panyako was barred from the race for not being a bona fide member of Cotu. Also elected unopposed were 34 members of the secretariat and executive board. There are a lot of things that are wrong with Mr. Atwoli’s re-election and indeed his current COTU leadership.

Firstly, Atwoli has been in power for 20 years. By the end of his term, Atwoli will have been at the helm of COTU for 25 years. An achievement only dictatorial rulers like Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo, and Paul Biya of Cameroon et al have mastered. His clinging on to power perhaps explains why in September 2019, he proposed that President Uhuru should lead for another term. He sees no problem leaders serving their term limits and exiting.

Secondly, back in 2006, Mr. Atwoli was a firebrand. Fiery. Fierce. Feared and respected by both the public and the Government. Loathed and loved in equal measure. Mr. Atwoli was a true reflection of what a Sec-General of any Union should be. He was sharp, active, focused, and truly dedicated to the cause of defending his workers.

When he coughed, the Government caught a cold. When he joked, people laughed even if it wasn’t funny. Mr. Atwoli didn’t speak with saliva in his mouth.

While sitting next to him after his victory speech, as a rookie journalist I felt intimidated by his presence. But I also admired his tenacity and how he kept the regime in check.

Today, Atwoli is a pale shadow of himself. A lion without a roar. A cat thoroughly rained on. A cobra with no poison. A leopard with no paws. A noise maker in a noisy market.

For a man who once commanded respect from both his workers and the government, Mr. Atwoli has become a regime conformist. A corrupt government apologist. A conspirator in the molestation of his workers by the Government.  A shareholder of Government extortion of workers that he vowed to defend. Mr. Atwoli has turned into a pseudo-unionist. Often pandering to the political elite. He no longer represents the interests of the workers but his own and his proxies.

Atwoli has abandoned workers’ interests to engage in stomach politics. He has forgotten that his first and foremost duty is to agitate for workers’ rights. That his loyalty lies with the workers, not with a rogue regime taxing workers to death.

Presently, the only active role Atwoli has played in defending workers is to make regular appearances at Jeff Koinange’s Show on Citizen TV where he has become a resident interviewee/guest. If he is not at JKL, Mr. Atwoli is throwing jabs at anyone who criticizes the BBI and the Handshake.

In the immortal words of Phillip Randolph, ‘’the essence of trade unionism is social uplift’’. Workers depend on their union leaders to champion their rights including socio-economic uplift as well as advocating and defending their welfare.

Kenyan workers are currently overburdened by taxes and high fuel prices. Many workers have lost jobs; and/or endured salary cuts. Others are working in the most horrible working conditions with the least pay. Others have no medical cover. Over and above this, the coronavirus pandemic has turned Kenyan workers into beggars often settling for peanuts as pay from their employers. But as the secretary-general of the largest workers union, what has Atwoli done?

When fuel prices skyrocketed in February this year, he released a hurriedly drafted statement condemning the Government and demanded that relevant ministries do something about it. Nothing was done.  In March 2021 when the Government increased the fuel prices yet again, Mr. Atwoli released another statement admonishing the action. The prices remained unchanged.

Atwoli of 2006 would have by now mobilized workers to a nationwide protest demanding accountability from the Government.

We are headed into another circle of fuel price review and Cabinet Secretary for Energy has already alluded to the possibility of another fuel price hike. Should COTU Sec General worry about this? Yes.  Is he worried? No. And why should he if he’s a beneficiary of the Government’s plunder? Like Raila Odinga, Mr. Atwoli has used his workers/follower’s goodwill to bargain for his piece of the national cake. Instead of his workers.

Although Atwoli maintained good relations with President Kibaki and the NARC government in 2006 by avoiding strikes and industrial tensions, he still worked hard at ensuring the interests of his constituents were well represented. Today, there is nothing of such.

My question to workers is? Do you need someone like Mr. Atwoli to represent your interests? Of what value is he to you as a worker? Mr. Atwoli needs to retire. Let’s stop kidding ourselves. There’s nothing new Mr. Atwoli will do today that he hasn’t done in the last 20 years. He’s old, he’s tired and he has run out of steam.

We must not normalize people turning offices into personal property. We must allow others to serve.

Unlike many people who have congratulated him for his unopposed win, I will not because I think only a fool would celebrate his re-election. For those who are okay with keeping the status quo, Atwoli’s re-election is a good thing. But for the Kenyan workers who know better and deserve better, Mr. Atwoli should retire and let others take over.

The author is a Kenyan journalist, writer, and communication specialist with a special interest in media law and political communication. He remains a close observer of, and participant in, Journalism and the Media.