Central Organization of Trade Union (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli’s remark made in Lamu is attracting various administrative interpretations in the country.
Hours after the long-serving workers’ boss uttered statements on how Deputy President Dr William Ruto may not be on the Presidential ballot in 2022, Kericho senator, Aaron Cheruiyot weighed in.
Muchai Murder
Hon Cheruiyot opened wounds on a matter that had become the subject of speculation since Kabete MP George Muchai was killed on the 7th of February 2015.
Muchai, who was Atwoli’s deputy at COTU had had a long-standing row with the vocal workers’ leader, and had lodged a complaint in court.
In the court case, the late MP George Muchai claimed Francis Atwoli was mismanaging the Workers’ Union and that he was to be forved out of office.
How Muchai was Killed
In an early morning incident which happened between 3am and 4:30am, Four men are said to have approached the MP’s car armed with assault rifles at the Uhuru Highway-Kenyatta Avenue roundabout.
Muchai was in his SUV in the company of two bodyguards. His wife and daughter were in another vehicle behind the MP’s.
Another relative who was also in the vehicle with Muchai’s family narrated to detectives at the crime scene that:
“They just started spraying it with bullets. When we saw that, our driver sped past the other car and when we came back to the scene a few minutes later, all the occupants of the vehicle were dead.”
A newspaper vendor who witnessed the macabre shooting also said that the gunmen had masks on their faces and that they ensured all the occupants of the vehicle had died before they fled the scene.
Before his death, MP Muchai had expressed concerns about his life. He had recorded statements with the police too.
Atwoli-Muchai Links
Responding to the assassination of the politician, Francis Atwoli called for speedy investigations into the death of the Unionist, saying anything short of that would fan speculations.
“The government must do a thorough probe to tell Kenyans who is behind his death. Anything short of this will only breed rumours,” Mr Atwoli said at a press conference at the Cotu offices in Nairobi in 2015.
During their time together at COTU, Muchai and Atwoli did not see eye to eye.
It was for this reason that the legislator’s death was suspicious, prompting Atwoli to issue a quick presser distancing himself from the murder.
“He was never a threat to me or us at Cotu and the differences we had were very healthy for the trade union movement and based on issues at hand.
“Despite our differences, which are normal in life, he remained a friend and a colleague. Remember we grew up with George in Nairobi and had known each other for the last 50 years,” he said then.
By Senator Aaron Cheruiyot reopening the wounds on the murder of MP Muchai, Kenyans are rife with speculation once again.
The big question, however, remains. Did Atwoli finish his Deputy George Muchai?
