COTU sets date for nationwide strike, demands removal of Kambi

NAIROBI, KENYA: Central organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) has announced a nationwide strike on 4th August, to demand the removal of the Cabinet Secretary for Labour Kazungu Kambi over alleged ineptness.

The representatives of the 40 COTU affiliated trade unions urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to remove Kambi from office saying he was incompetent and had not met the mandate of his office.

"Since the CS was appointed to office, he has never convened any tripartite meeting to listen to workers' issues," said the secretary general of the Kenya Electrical Trade and Allied Workers Union Ernest Nadome speaking for the affiliated trade unions.

They clarified that COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli's woes with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) board was not the only reason they were calling for a workers strike.

They said among the things they wanted sorted out was an adjustment to the minimum wage as promised on labour day earlier in the year.

They also demanded the immediate removal of the current NSSF chairman Adan Mohamed and the appointment of a new chairman to the board of trustees.

"The CS should gazette COTU's second nominee Damaris Muhika to the NSSF board of trustees," said Nadome.

The COTU affiliate unions pointed out their disappointment from the government for their silence on the ongoing NSSF wrangles with the labour CS.

Despite recent court orders reinstating Atwoli and the Federation of Kenya Employers Executive Director Jackline Mugo to the NSSF board of trustees, the COTU affiliate unions demanded that the Ministry of Labour withdraw their degazzetement.

Seth Panyako the secretary general of the Kenya National Union of Nurses reiterated that if the demands they had presented were not met then the government should prepare for a workers strike of mammoth proportions.