Francis Atwoli: From a humble village boy to the top of the world.
When he is not articulating workers union issues in boardrooms across the globe, Ndugu Atwoli is busy at his farm in Nakuru or Kajiado tending to his farmyard.
Many people will remember him for his fierce and straight talks. Atwoli never hesitates to speak his mind even in the presence of Presidents. Many atimes, he will unapologetically call out the shenzi types in the community…. Washenzi saana!
But who is Atwoli?
FRANCIS LUMASAYI ATWOLI is the most flamboyant trade unionist and defender of workers’ rights in Kenya since the exit of Tom Mboya in the 1960s.
Through sheer hard work, aggressiveness, and commitment to the labor ideals, Atwoli has made a name for himself not just in Kenya, but also in the region and globally.
Presently, he stands shoulder to shoulder with the labor luminaries of yesteryears – Tom Mboya, Dennis Akumu, Clement Lubembe, Boy Juma Boy and Joseph Mugalla.
Born in 1947 in Kakamega County, western Kenya, to a humble family, he had a modest childhood and education before entering the labor force as an employee of the then East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EAP&TC) at the young age of nineteen. He joined the trade union movement in 1967 in the position of a shop steward from where he rose through the ranks to the pinnacle of the umbrella organization, COTU, and the regional and international labor movement. In Kenya’s political landscape, he strides like a colossus and is perhaps the most influential personality outside the Presidency.
Francis Atwoli the oracle of Kenyan politics.
Dr Francis Atwoli is one of the most sought after trade unionist and advisor on matters of national importance.
It, therefore, did not surprise many when on January 31st, 2016 at Bukhungu stadium when he installed Hon Mudavadi as a Luhya spokesman.
It will take a longer time to get another leader of Atwoli’s caliber…
Dr Atwoli has had an immense effect on the politics of the larger western province/luhya politics.
In this era of BBI and 2022 politics, many politicians in western Kenya and even beyond are trooping to Atwoli’s home either for endorsement and or for tenets of wisdom to help them in their political journey.
Dr. Atwoli a KANU life member is always at home with all politicians on the national front. In fact, he is one of the few leaders who have the president’s eye and ear with or without an appointment.
No doubt that during the launch of his book , Fame, force and fury, the president whom Atwoli refers to as his son had this to say about the trade unionist…..
“Many historians may well hesitate to attempt to write about the life of Francis Atwoli. The mass of material is so immense, the field he has traversed so vast, the verdicts of his friends and foes, so voluminous. Certainly, very few can bring together the overwhelming multiplicity of data and factors, of forces and movements, and from them establish the vast story of this great man. To do so would literary be a prodigious task for Atwoli has had an immense impact on many aspects of Kenyan history.”
H.E Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta
and Sen. Amos Wako, on the way to Busia county for a fundraiser at St. Stephen’s A.C.K Church.
