COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli has castigated NASA and Jubilee leaders for persisting in their selfishness in the current political impasse in the country. Addressing the press at solidarity house in Nairobi, Atwoli said the leaders should sit down and discuss the way forward, “We are appealing to the political leaders to dialogue, even if it’s a minor disagreement. When people call for a dialogue it’s not for the purposes of sharing the government, you can just dialogue and agree on a way forward for the sake of the country,” he said.
Atwoli outlined the challenges that have hit the economy sector at the moment, including lack of jobs, and running of industries, “Most jobs in Kenya are peaceful, and some are not even permanent employment jobs. If there is nothing productive going on then these people can’t buy food, pay rent or pay school fees because of the current political situation,” he said. He said the manufacturing industry has also been affected, particularly the textile industry.
The COTU boss said the leaders should shun pride and embrace talks, “We must impress upon peace, dialogue and reaching out to one another,” he said, “Let politicians leave chest thumping, saying that we are the government we want this or that, or we are in the opposition so we want this or that.” He cited that the signs don’t bode well for next week given that the demos will be held daily and business will be affected in the CBD and industrial area.