Cotu boss Atwoli faces jail over contempt

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions secretary general Francis Atwoli is staring at jail time for contempt of court.

Justice Isaac Lenaola Thursday ordered him to appear in court in September for sentencing.

Alternatively, his property may be attached or any other sanctions against him issued.

Mr Atwoli is in trouble because he called for a strike by tea workers after the court had restrained him and other officials from doing so until a case on the matter was heard and determined.

Mr Atwoli and officials of the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (KPAWU) called the strike on October 18, 2010 to protest the introduction of tea plucking machines by multinational tea companies in Kericho, Sotik, Kisii and Nandi.

Kenya Tea Growers Association had told the court that as a result of the strike called by Mr Atwoli and KPAWU officials, they had incurred a loss of Sh7, 394, 589.40

“There is no doubt that Mr Atwoli may have imagined that the workers needed the strike for their greater good. But once he disobeyed the Order, then he had broken the barrier of illegality with all its consequences,” said Mr Justice Lenaola.

The judge issued the ruling in an application filed by the Kenya Tea Growers Association in 2010 against Mr Atwoli and Mr Joshua Okello Oyuga, Mr Henry Omasire, Mr Meshack Khisa, Mr Joshua Owuor and Mr David Begi, who are KPAWU officials.