Cornered? Why Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli is a man under siege
Central Organisation of Trade Unions General Secretary Francis Atwoli.
What you need to know:
- A regulatory authority has since launched an investigation into the collection and use of all funds deducted and remitted to Cotu.
- A postposed law seeks to impose term limits on union officials. Atwoli has held his current post at Cotu for 23 years.
- After campaigning for Raila, the chickens may have come home to roost for the firebrand trade unionist.
Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli is a man under siege.
The move by the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) to order the immediate cessation of the deduction and remittance of trade union dues by private security officers to Cotu has put Mr Atwoli in the spotlight even as it appeared that some powerful forces in the system wanted him out of the way.
The authority has since launched an investigation into the collection and use of all funds deducted and remitted to Cotu by private security companies.
PSRA chief executive Fazul Mohamed said Monday that this had been initiated following “numerous complaints from private security officers” and was aimed at “protecting the welfare and rights of over 1.3 million private security officers”.
Preliminary investigations by the authority, Mr Mohamed said, had confirmed that private security guards had made significant contributions to Cotu in the form of monthly union dues running into billions of shillings.
Against the backdrop of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which seeks to impose term limits on union officials, Mr Atwoli, who has held his current post at Cotu for 23 years, is not sitting pretty.
But yesterday, the official remained upbeat, dismissing Mr Mohamed’s directive and describing it as an illegal adventure.
“The Industrial Relations Act and other labour laws are very clear and what Fazul is saying is not based on any of these laws. No individual or even employer can remove workers from a union because every member voluntarily fills a form to join,” Mr Atwoli told the Nation on the phone.
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President William Ruto with Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli during the 58th Labour Day celebrations at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi on May 1. The 2023 Labour Day celebrations recorded the lowest turnout in history, with many workers remaining indoors.
Full statement
He noted that Cotu will issue a full statement on Mr Mohamed’s directive today (Tuesday), even as he warned against security companies withdrawing members’ remittances.
Asked whether the government could be behind the move by the PSRA, which is a state-owned firm, Mr Atwoli said: “Even if someone in government is using him, we will eventually know and deal with him or her effectively.”
After criss-crossing the country campaigning for Azimio leader Raila Odinga, President William Ruto’s main opponent in the August 2022 presidential election, the chickens may have come home to roost for the firebrand trade unionist.
Known for his straight talk, Mr Atwoli was a well-known figure in Mr Odinga’s campaigns in the run-up to the August 9, 2022 polls.
After the opposition leader’s election defeat, the Cotu boss, probably out of an abundance of caution, made an immediate U-turn and joined President Ruto’s wing.
He said his continued support for the Azimio leader against the government would “jeopardise” his job and “harm” Kenyan workers.
“As a leader who sits on various international labour bodies, I am obliged to brief the president on what is discussed in the forums and their outcomes. This can only be done effectively if I work closely with him,” Mr Atwoli said in defence of his December 2022 State House visit.
At the height of the campaigns, Mr Atwoli emerged as a thorn in President Ruto’s side with his scathing criticism of the then Deputy President.
His criticism of Dr Ruto on many occasions provoked strong retaliation from the President who referred to him as Mzee wa Nyororo (old man with chains), even though they buried the hatched after the elections.
However, President Ruto appears to have put Mr Atwoli at arm’s length and yesterday’s directive by Mr Mohamed to private security companies to immediately withhold financial transfers to the union lifted the lid on a complex attack on the veteran trade unionist.
The PSRA is a government body whose mandate is to provide a regulatory framework for the private security industry and to provide a forum for cooperation between the private security industry and government security agencies.
Established under Section 7 of the Private Security Regulation Act No 13 of 2016, it is responsible for regulating the private security industry in accordance with the Act and the values and principles enshrined in the Constitution.
In Mr Mohamed’s terse letter dated April 15 and copied to Kenya Security Industry Association (KSIA) chairman Jeremy Van Tongeren, he ordered an immediate halt to the deduction and remittance of private security officers’ union dues to Cotu-Kenya.
“Section 10 (b) of the Act mandates the Authority to conduct or cause to be conducted investigations and inquiries into any matter within the scope of its functions,”Mr Mohamed said in the letter.
He regretted that private security officers make up a large percentage of Cotu’s membership, and despite their low salaries, have faithfully paid union fees for decades. “Notwithstanding their significant financial contribution, Cotu has failed to live up to its mandate and has persistently disregarded, rejected and neglected their rights.”
He noted that Cotu has also failed to promote the minimum wage and the general welfare of the guards.
Azimio leader Raila Odinga (right) confers with COTU secretary general Francis Atwoli at Kapchemugung Secondary School grounds in Vihiga county on September 2, 2023 during burial service of former COTU chairman the late Rajab Mwondi.
The PSRA’s move, coupled with the push for the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which seeks to impose term limits on union officials, the ongoing health workers’ strike, which Mr Atwoli, as a trade unionist, has continued to support, as well as intense pressure from the opposition, which has challenged Mr Atwoli to act, is proving to be his nightmare.
Mr Atwoli has already come out strongly against the term limits Bill, describing it as “ill-conceived and retrogressive”.
He argues that such a proposal goes against the principles of free and independent trade unions as advocated by the International Labour Organisation.
The Bill, which has been tabled for first reading in the Senate, is sponsored by Migori Senator Eddy Oketch.
“The main purpose of the Bill is to provide for the tenure of office of officials of a trade union, employers’ organisation or federation and the requirements for registration of a trade union,” the Bill states.
“An official of a trade union, employers’ organisation or federation shall hold office for a term commencing on the date on which the official is elected and ending on the date on which a person is next elected as an official.”
But Mr Atwoli said trade unions are indispensable, free and independent organisations that represent the interests of workers and operate in accordance with their constitutions.
“It is obvious that the first term Senator Eddy Oketch needs to spend more time familiarising himself with the workings of the Senate, particularly with regard to the autonomy and independence of trade unions, rather than talking about issues that are hitherto of no interest to the many Kenyans who serve and support his stay in the Senate,” he said.
Mr Atwoli told the senator that unions, like political parties, operate without term limits for their leaders.
“He forgets that the position he occupies as a senator has no term limit. As long as a senator continues to represent his constituents effectively, he can be re-elected again and again,” he said.
Last week, against the expectations of the striking health workers, Mr Atwoli reiterated that President Ruto’s recent statements on the ongoing doctors’ strike reflected honesty about the government’s financial constraints in meeting their demands.
The President had told the doctors that Kenyans must live within their means, adding that the government had no money to pay them.
“Ruto is being sincere. He is trying to be honest with what he has. But then that honesty should be translated into something like an agreement. We have to find a way out of this,” said Mr Atwoli.
Mr Odinga has also been openly critical of Mr Atwoli, accusing him of cosying up to President Ruto’s government instead of standing up for workers’ rights.
“Tell the President the challenges facing workers in this country in the current economic situation,” Mr Odinga told the trade unionist at the height of the anti-government protests he launched last year.
He said Mr Atwoli should be the one telling workers to take to the streets and fight for their rights, not the political class.
With the opposition also breathing down Mr Atwoli’s neck, it remains unclear how he will juggle the government and opposition onslaught against him.
