COTU Dismisses Gachagua’s Criticism of Trade Unions

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) has rejected former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s criticisms against the organization and its Secretary General Francis Atwoli.
COTU characterized the allegations as baseless, uncalled for, and fueled solely by political animosity.
In a statement released on May 6, 2026, COTU portrayed Gachagua as someone pursuing a destructive agenda against institutions due to his uncertain political prospects.
“It has become clear that Mr. Gachagua has begun a dangerous mission to dismantle the foundations of our nation, solely because his political future appears dim,” the statement read.
COTU expressed confusion regarding the reasons behind Gachagua’s attacks, speculating that it might stem from frustration over President Ruto’s successful Labour Day festivities where a 12 percent general wage hike was announced, or possibly the final stages of grief following his impeachment.
“While Kenyans anticipated that after his impeachment, Gachagua would experience the five stages of grief, we underestimated the complexity of his grief journey, as it remains uncertain whether he is still in denial, depressed, angry, or engaged in prolonged negotiations,” COTU stated.
The organization reminded Gachagua that COTU dates back to 1900, with many affiliated unions founded in 1937, long before his birth.
They emphasized that Gachagua lacks the historical context, moral authority, and intellectual capacity to instruct workers or trade unions on their affairs.
COTU also contrasted Atwoli and Gachagua, noting that while Atwoli was arrested in 2012 for refusing to halt a workers’ strike, Gachagua’s public reputation is largely tied to what the statement termed as the hording of wealth, corruption-related arrests, and constant political controversies.
“Mr. Gachagua has never advocated for anything beyond his personal gains, business interests, political survival, and what many Kenyans view as his unending desire for power, significance, and access to state resources,” the statement noted.
Regarding Gachagua’s proposal to create a competing umbrella organization to challenge COTU, the union was dismissive, deeming the proposal absurd and indicative of a fundamental misunderstanding of how trade unionism functions.
“Trade unions are not political shops established overnight to satisfy bruised egos or personal grievances. COTU is a legally recognized national labor organization with profound historical foundations, international acknowledgment, and represents millions of workers through its affiliated unions, and no quantity of political resentment or ethnic provocation from Mr. Gachagua will undermine the Kenyan labor movement,” the statement declared.
COTU concluded by questioning Gachagua’s genuine concern for workers, stating that if he truly cared about tea and coffee workers from the Mt. Kenya region as he frequently claims, he would have welcomed the wage increases announced on Labour Day instead of attacking the very entities advocating for those workers.
“Mr. Gachagua has once again proven that he has no regard for workers or the common citizen, focusing only on his political relevance, personal resentments, and satisfying his unquenchable thirst for attention,” the statement ended.