The Central Group of Commerce Unions Kenya (COTU-Okay) brushed apart a petition towards its latest elections, labeling the allegations as meritless and legally hole.
The employees’ union issued this response following a lawsuit from Fazul Mohamed and the Institute for Democratic Governance. The go well with goals to scrap the outcomes of the March 14, 2026, polls held at Kisumu’s Tom Mboya Labour School.
COTU-Okay Secretary Common Francis Atwoli stood by the voting course of, sustaining that the petitioner lacks any legitimate motive to contest the outcomes.
“The petitioner is neither a member of any affiliate union of COTU (K), nor an official of any trade union, nor a participant in the electoral process,” Atwoli stated in a press release. “He did not present himself for nomination for any position within COTU (K).”
Atwoli reiterated that the group adopted its structure to the letter, declaring the excessive turnout from member unions.
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“The COTU (K) elections themselves were conducted with overwhelming participation from affiliated unions, with a quorum of 92 per cent of eligible delegates, which is above the constitutional requirement of 51 per cent,” he stated.
COTU-Okay famous that, main as much as the vote, over 90% of its dues-paying members had completed their very own native and nationwide elections. This enabled their formally elected delegates to solid ballots within the Kisumu election.
“This high level of participation is a clear demonstration of the confidence that Kenyan workers and their unions have in the leadership and processes of COTU (K),” Atwoli added.
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The group additionally tackled particular complaints within the petition about which unions participated. Atwoli defined that as a result of the Kenya Nationwide Union of Lecturers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Put up-Major Training Lecturers (KUPPET) don’t pay membership charges to COTU-Okay, they’d no proper to ship voting delegates.
“With regard to the unions cited in the petition, COTU (K) wishes to clarify that KNUT and KUPPET are not paid-up affiliates and are, therefore, not entitled to have delegates in the election. They only participated as observers,” Atwoli defined.
Relating to the participation of the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), Atwoli said that COTU’s structure allowed the union illustration despite the fact that it had not completed its personal elections.
“Considering KMPDU was yet to conduct their national elections, the constitution of COTU (K) allows them to have three delegates in the elections, which they did under the leadership of their general secretary, Dr Davji Atella,” he famous.
The petitioners, nevertheless, argue that the elections occurred too early and broke the legislation, particularly ignoring the official timelines from the Registrar of Commerce Unions.
Court docket paperwork present they consider COTU-Okay held the polls earlier than each member union completed its inner voting – a step they declare the legislation requires. In addition they problem the outcomes that noticed Atwoli reportedly return for a sixth time period as secretary basic with out opposition, questioning the transparency and equity of the method.
