Francis Atwoli is set for a sixth term as the Secretary-General of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu).
This is after he was endorsed by 42 affiliated trade unions to serve for another five-year term. The umbrella union is scheduled to hold its elections in August, 2026.
Mr Atwoli is the longest serving Secretary General of Cotu, having been first elected to the office in August 2001.
“Today, in my capacity as the Secretary General of COTU(K), I hosted 42 General Secretaries from affiliated trade unions for a preparatory lunch, during which they unanimously endorsed me to lead into the COTU elections scheduled for August this year,” said Mr Atwoli on Tuesday.
Mr Atwoli was re-elected unopposed to serve for the fifth term in the last election held in 2021. There were indications that he would not seek another term.
But members of the union’s executive committee in a previous press conference said they had endorsed Mr Atwoli as the ideal person to continue defending the rights of workers’ unions in the country.
The executive board members also dismissed claims that the 74-year-old trade unionist would be retiring soon from the umbrella workers body.
“It is our choice, it is our decision, and it is the Kenyan workers’ voice that we still want Francis Atwoli. It is purely democracy. There is nothing wrong. Nobody can fault our decisions on any grounds. We love him. He has experience, he has the knowledge, he has what the Kenyan worker needs,” said Moss Ndiema, the secretary-general of Kenya Aviation Workers Union (Kawu).
Mr Ndiema said while there are concerns over the desire to have new faces in the union, the experience that Mr Atwoli has had in the labour-related issues since 2001 locally and internationally gives him a direct ticket for another term.
“Cotu constitution has no age limit and we attend the international conferences where we come across people who are older than Atwoli by far. Our secretary general may look the oldest in our local settings but internationally, he is very young,” Mr Ndiema said.
Mr Atwoli previously served as the General Secretary of the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union and also in a senior position at the Union of Posts and Telecommunication Employees.
Last year, Mr Atwoli was re-elected to serve for the fifth time as a Titular Member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Governor body, becoming the longest serving member.
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