This archive report was first published on 15 June 2021.
On Tuesday, June 15, Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino offered a helping hand to Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) boss Francis Atwoli after the road signage bearing his name was burnt down.
Images shared by K24 Digital showed the signboard up in flames after unknown people used car tyres to set it ablaze.
Babu Owino advised Atwoli to put an electric fence around the signage to prevent any future threats.
"I want to request Hon. Francis Atwoli to put an electric fence around the signage to keep off some members of the evil society who are pretending to belong to civil society," Babu Owino said in a Facebook post.
Atwoli responded to the incident on his Twitter handle, stating that those behind the illegal act would be haunted forever.
"Bringing down honorary road signage under my name doesn’t hurt me. On the flip side, it will haunt for life, those who are behind it. For how does it benefit them? How do you sleep at night know you are a vandal?" Atwoli posed.
Atwoli emphasized that he has achieved a lot as a workers’ defender across the globe and the naming of the signage after him was a recognition of his good work.
He added that he is a household name and nobody needs road signage to know his rich legacy as a trade unionist.
"My name is all over the world and one doesn’t require street signage for the, to know who Francis Atwoli. The name will live in posterity taking into account my years of selfless service to the workers in Kenya and the world," Atwoli said.
The signage, which was reinstated barely a fortnight ago after it was brought down, has been at the centre of controversy.
