May 1st 2021 at 12:00:00 GMT +0300
As Kenyans join the rest of the world in marking International Labour Day on Saturday, it will be the 19th time Francis Atwoli will be in the limelight having been at the helm of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) since August 2001.
And it appears Kenyans will have to wait much longer for a new face to preside over the occasion and, by extension, lead in championing of workers’ rights in the country. This is after the 71-year-old Atwoli was given a fresh five-year mandate as Cotu Secretary General by its 250 delegates on April 9.
The flamboyant Cotu boss retained the seat unopposed during the elections held both virtually and physically at the Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu after his only opponent, Seth Panyako, the secretary general of Kenya National Union of Nurses, withdrew from the contest.
President Uhuru s Full Labour Day Speech Today
President Uhuru Kenyatta on May 1, 2021.
PSCU
Fellow Kenyans,
It is with great pleasure that I join all workers of Kenya, and, indeed, the rest of the world, to commemorate International Labour Day.
On this day, we come together to celebrate our workers as creators and makers of things, and to recognize the best efforts of their labour. From factory to factory; from field to field and from office to office, the labour of their hands has transformed this country from year to year and from generation to generation.
It is a fact, without labour, there is no prosperity. As one philosopher noted, labour is what brings the difference to everything. Evidently, without a doubt, labour is the game-changer of all progress.