COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli wants to hold a high level meeting with President William Ruto over the skyrocketing cost of living in the country.
Speaking on Wednesday, October 18, Atwoli observed that life was costly for most households making it even harder for them to put food on the table.
He thus noted that the meeting would help other experts give Ruto alternatives on cushioning Kenyans from the high cost of living.
Atwoli blamed the rise in fuel costs on the general surge in the cost of commodities and services.
Atwoli was speaking in Mombasa where he joined IndustriALL Global Union at their Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Committee meeting.
The new stance was interrupted as a change of tune as initially, Atwoli was an ardent supporter of policies implemented by the Kenya Kwanza regime.
Amidst complaints from workers over increased taxes, Atwoli boldly supported various tax policies including the Affordable Housing Mandatory deductions.
“Cotu (K) would like to encourage the trade unionists who skipped labour day celebrations and the meeting with the President to embrace social dialogue and stop politicizing serious matters,” Atwoli stated then.
“It must be noted that the three per cent housing levy is not a tax and that this is a great initiative towards building low-cost homes for Kenyans workers.”
Defending his sentiments, the Cotu boss said article 43 (b) of the Constitution instructs that every Kenyan has the right to accessible and adequate housing and reasonable standards of sanitation.
“The government has made it clear that they have already invested Ksh5 billion into the housing fund and those who contribute to the housing fund and later wish to withdraw their contributions will have access to their savings with interest,” Atwoli insisted.
