Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) boss Francis Atwoli has revealed that he summoned all his children after marrying his youngest wife TV girl Mary Kilobi Atwoli and told them to respect her as their younger mother. According to the trade unionist, dialogue is a key part of fostering smooth working relationship from family level to the larger field of advocating for workers’ rights.
Speaking in Nairobi on Thursday, January 24, when Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) rejoined Kenya’s largest workers’ rights union COTU, Atwoli said the meeting was meant to give direction to his polygamous family members. He said he has established a culture where all his wives and children needed to listen to him as the head of family whenever he gave directions though they were open to give different opinion on family matters.
“Even in my house I have several wives and all of them together with my children listen to me” Atwoli said. He disclosed that after adding Kilobi as a third wife, he assembled all his children under the chairmanship of his professor son Lukoye Atwoli to inform them of his decision and sought their opinion on the move.
“When I recently got married I assembled all of them under the chairmanship Lukoye Atwoli and told them to advise me. I told them here is your mother tell me what you think,” he said. Atwoli said, after a long silence, his children endorsed his move and told him they were okay provided he was well, explaining that the session was meant to inform his offspring that Kilobi, despite being young like some of them was not their sister but younger mother.
“They thought for a while and told us if you are happy we are happy. I gave them direction otherwise they could think the young lady I have is of their equal and forget to refer to her as mama,” he said. The trade unionist’s move to marry Kilobi did not auger well with his second wife Rosalinder Wanyonyi who accused him of neglecting her.