Francis Atwoli heads toward a sixth term as Secretary-General of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu).
Forty-two affiliated trade unions have endorsed him to serve another five-year term. The umbrella union has scheduled its elections for August 2026.
“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,” Atwoli said on Tuesday.
Atwoli holds the record as Cotu’s longest-serving Secretary General, having first won the office in August 2001.
The union re-elected Atwoli unopposed for his fifth term in the last election held in 2021. Members of the union’s executive committee endorsed Atwoli as the ideal person to continue defending workers’ union rights in the country during a previous press conference.
The executive board members also dismissed claims that the 74-year-old trade unionist would retire 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).
Ndiema acknowledged concerns about bringing new faces into the union, but said Atwoli’s experience in labor-related issues since 2001, both locally and internationally, earns 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,” Ndiema said.
Atwoli previously served as General Secretary of the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union and also held a senior position at the Union of Posts and Telecommunication Employees.
Last year, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Governor body re-elected Atwoli to serve his fifth term as a Titular Member, making him the longest-serving member.
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