A petition was filed at the High Court in Kerugoya seeking to quash the recent re-election of Francis Atwoli as Secretary-General of COTU-K, alleging procedural irregularities and violations of constitutional principles.
The case, lodged by the Centre for Public Policy and Research, challenges the validity of the March 14, 2026, polls held at the Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu.
The petitioner sued the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, the Registrar of Trade Unions, COTU-K, and the Attorney General, with several trade unions and officials listed as interested parties.
According to court documents, the NGO argued that the elections were conducted prematurely, contrary to an official electoral timetable issued by the Registrar in September 2025.
The schedule provided for branch-level elections between January 5 and March 31, 2026, followed by national elections from April 1 to June 30, with COTU-K’s national polls expected to conclude by August 30.
However, the petitioner contended that the March 14 elections took place before affiliate unions had completed their branch and national processes, undermining the legal framework governing trade union elections.
It argued that valid COTU-K elections depend on properly elected delegates from affiliated unions.
The petition described a “democratic chain of accountability” in union elections, beginning with grassroots members electing branch officials, who then serve as delegates at the national level, culminating in COTU-K’s leadership vote.
The applicant claimed this chain was disrupted.
It alleged that key unions, including the Kenya National Union of Teachers, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers, and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union, had not completed their branch elections at the time of the COTU-K vote, meaning there were no properly constituted delegates to participate legitimately.
The petitioner further cited a series of alleged procedural shortcomings, including failure to update membership registers, absence of independent electoral bodies, and lack of transparency in the nomination process.
It also claimed that no voters’ register was published, election observers were not accredited, and voting centres were neither clearly designated nor communicated to members.
According to the filing, these omissions rendered the process opaque and incapable of meeting the standards of a credible election.
The application alleges violations of constitutional provisions relating to national values, equality, access to information, fair labour practices, and fair administrative action, arguing that union members were denied their right to participate in a lawful and transparent electoral process.
The Centre for Public Policy and Research is seeking orders to nullify the March 14 elections, bar the Registrar from formalizing the results, and obtain a declaration that the entire process was unconstitutional and void from the outset.
Two other petitions were filed in Nairobi over the same issue.
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