NAIROBI: A workers' union has accused the Consumer Confederation of Kenya (Cofek) of slander and urged its employer to sue the consumer body over an article which labelled one of its top managers a racist.
The East African Breweries Ltd (EABL) Workers Union (EWU) said it is not aware of any cases of racism at the company and accused Cofek of using its 'presumptive role' of defending consumer rights to intimidate expatriates at the company.
The union's chairman Eliud Ingwe said it was irresponsible of Cofek to publish an anonymous letter that blamed the company's Group Director of Finance Tracy Barnes of racism and sending it to sections of the media for publication without seeking the opinion of the union.
"It is wrong to take advantage of Tracy's race and accuse her of something she is not guilty of. We all know her. She is one of the most pleasant people to work with and we have never had any complaints against her or any other expatriate at our head office. Cofek should be made to account for this to deter such behaviour in future," said Mr Ingwe.
Ingwe also cited a post on Twitter by Cofek's Secretary General Stephen Mutoro which seemed to imply that the company's head of communications, Joseph Sunday, who is Kenyan, was an expatriate to illustrate the consumer body's "...misinterpretation of facts to feed its obsession with portraying EABL as full of expatriates".
But Mutoro said his organisation had written to the company seeking clarification and went ahead to publish the article after it failed to respond.
"We don't have any sinister agenda. If the fellow (Joseph Sunday) is Kenyan, we do apologise. If they had provided the information, the issue would have been clarified," Mutoro told The Standard.
The company, through its Group Human Resources Director Paul Kasimu had earlier issued a statement stating the allegations against the director were untrue and calculated to tarnish his reputation. "Regrettably Cofek, did not seek EABL's response and/or undertake any exercise to verify the allegations prior to restating the same to the various stakeholders," said Mr Kasimu.
Kasimu said EABL is governed by a strict code of conduct and ethical practice that guides all its areas of operation including staff hiring and retention processes. He said the firm had not received any complaint from any employee regarding the claims.
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