Francis Atwoli, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary-General on Sunday, May 31, distanced himself from claims that he was behind the ouster of Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula as Ford-Kenya leader.
Through a statement, Atwoli warned against being linked to the party.
“I want to state categorically that I have nothing to do with what is happening in Ford-K and Amani National Congress.
“My party is KANU and I shouldn’t be dragged into local parties belonging to fence sitters who have no idea of what is happening in Kenya,” Atwoli wrote.
In a press briefing on Sunday, Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi accused Atwoli of working with a member of the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition to dominate political parties.
“I am aware that this mischief has been in the making for some time now. It is calculated to invade and destabilise all independent-minded political parties.
“The mischief has been escalated at a number of meetings led by the leader of a NASA member-party, whose objective is to dominate and destroy everyone politically. In this, they are aided by the Secretary-General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU),” Mudavadi stated.
Further, Mudavadi assured Wetangula of his support and that of the ANC party.
Following a meeting by the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) at Raddison Blu, Nairobi, Wetangula was dismissed as the FORD Kenya party leader.
Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi was selected to serve as the interim Party Leader in a chaotic message that saw allies of Wetangula storm the venue at one point.
Moments later, Wetangula held his own briefing and maintained that he was still the party leader.
He went ahead and made changes which included the suspension of Tongaren Member of Parliament David Simiyu as Secretary-General who was temporarily replaced by Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa.
“You have heard this morning that a group calling themselves NEC members of this party assembled in some five-star hotel after airlifting some impostors. We know the country is closed down, air travel is suspended.
“They were airlifting people yesterday from Kisumu and Mombasa, people who are not officials of the party or NEC members of the party,” Wetangula disclosed.
The chaos in the party came a day after the COTU sec-gen held a meeting at his Kajiado home attended by Luhyia leaders.
Notably, Mudavadi and Wetangula, did not attend the meeting, which had been convened to discuss the political future of the region ahead of the elections in 2022 elections.
