Inside the big Fazul Mohamed - Francis Atwoli tiff rattling Cotu
Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli (left) and Chief Executive of the Private Security Regulatory Authority Fazul Mohamed.
What you need to know:
- Fazul provoked a furious reaction from Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, which might well have some consequences.
- Fazul wrote to private security firms directing them to halt deducting and remitting to Cotu trade union dues from their employees.
- Atwoli accused the PSRA of being the greatest impediment to protecting the rights and welfare of private security guards.
Fazul Mohammed is a man who generates controversy with his often outrageous edicts in service of the government of the day. In his past life as chair of the NGO Coordination Board, he provoked outrage with a series of directives, mostly without legal basis, purporting to proscribe or de-register civil society organisations which the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta viewed with suspicion.
He left the NGO body under a cloud, and in his present reincarnation as Chief Executive of the Private Security Regulatory Authority was not expected to ruffle feathers too much as the sector hardly posed a threat to the government of President William Ruto.
But he has again managed to stir the hornet’s nest with a controversial directive ordering private security companies to halt remittance of employee union contribution to the workers’ umbrella body, the Central Organisation of Trade Union.
Fazul provoked a furious reaction from Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, which might well have some consequences as the rambunctious trade union boss has been trying to mend fences with the Ruto administration after having campaigned wholeheartedly for opposition chief Raila Odinga at the last elections.
The latest controversy from Fazul was sparked off on April 15 when he wrote to all private security firms, directing them to halt deducting and remitting to Cotu trade union dues from their employees.
He charged that the trade union umbrella body had over the years failed to stand up for the economic and social welfare of private security guards who comprised a significant portion of its membership.
He claimed, without offering evidence, to be acting on complaints from private security guards, adding that preliminary investigations showed Cotu had received ‘billions of shillings’ in union dues from security companies.
He threatened to deregister and effectively halt operations of any private security company which ignored his order and continued to deduct and remit union dues.
Although he cited the statutory functions of the PSRA in regulating the private security sector including the welfare of employees, Fazul’s edict was legally doubtful as union membership is voluntary and a right that cannot be curtailed by government.
Also, he ignored the simple fact that workers are not members of Cotu nor do they make direct contributions to the umbrella body, but to their respective unions, in this case the Kenya National Private Security Workers Union (KNPSWU).
This is the point Atwoli made in a furious reaction. Flanked by leaders of various Cotu affiliate unions, the long-serving labour boss dismissed Fazul’s directive as illegal and in violation of Kenyan labour laws and enshrined rights to trade union membership.
He upped the ante the following day when he demanded revival of an old case in which Fazul was accused of using a forgery degree certificate to secure his old job as boss of the NGO Board.
He threatened that if the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission failed to act, Cotu would institute a private prosecution.
This is not the first time Fazul has tangled with Atwoli. At the end of March, the PSRA boss launched a scathing attack on the union leader whom he accused of neglecting private security guards.
“The people who contribute a lot of money to the union is you-the guards-but why are your grievances not been looked into?” he posed during a registration function for security guards and club bouncers. He went to the extent of threatening to oust trade union officials and install his preferred choices in office.
In return, Atwoli accused the PSRA of being the greatest impediment to protecting the rights and welfare of private security guards, claiming that Cotu had as received numerous complaints through Kenya National Private Security Workers Union.
The tiff goes back to PSRA’s imposition of a minimum wage of Sh30,000 per month for private security guards, a popular measure amongst the guards, but one that could force closure of small security companies which cannot afford such salaries might not be able to pass on the costs to clients, leading to job losses.
Fazul has accused Cotu of not supporting the order on minimum salaries. This is a matter that will not end soon as both Fazul and Atwoli show no indication of backing down.
It is likely that the union boss will go to court to have the order overturned, a matter which might also draw in the Cabinet Secretary for Interior Kithure Kindiki under whose docket PSRA falls, as well as the CS for Labour and Social Protection Florence Bore.
With Labour Day, May 1, just around the corner, Atwoli has been handed just the sort of issues he likes to provide fuel for his lengthy tirades on a national platform.
He is also digging up dirt on Fazul, starting with his demand that the PSRA boss be prosecuted for alleged forgery of a degree certificate. The matter goes back to 2016 when the government ombudsman, otherwise known as the Commission on Administrative Justice, declared that Fazul was unfit to hold public office on grounds that he did not have a genuine university degree.
It also wanted him prosecuted and forced to refund over Sh8 million, “being the net salary he has unlawfully earned” during his tenure at the NGO Board.by A 38-page report presented to then CS for Devolution Mwangi Kiunjuri recommended Fazul’s removal from office on various grounds, including irregular appointment by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2014.
An investigation had established that he had been discontinued from his studies at Egerton University after failing to meet academic requirements for Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry.
“In attempt to cover up, Fazul withdrew his personal file from the custodian (Human Resources Manager) and removed his records,” the report said. The Ombudsman report had come a few weeks after CS Kiunjuri sent Fazul on compulsory leave and also dissolved the entire NGO Board.
Fazul went to the High Court, which overturned Kiunjuri’s decision to suspend him, and in a strange twist soon afterwards, Uhuru transferred the board from the Devolution ministry to the Interior ministry.
Not long afterwards, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission also concluded its own investigations and forwarded a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that Fazul be charged for using a forged degree certificate to secure the NGO Board job.
The then DPP Keriako Tobiko returned the file to the EACC to fill some gaps, but it seems the matter died out. In February 2018, Fazul resigned a few months to expiry of his term. The Weekly Review sought to reach Fazul for comments without success.
The telephone number listed on the PSRA website went unanswered, and there was no response to e-mails.
With change of regime in 2022, President Ruto recalled Fazul into government as boss of the private security regulatory agency, ignoring the Ombudsman rulings that barred him from holding public office.
Ironically, the latest controversy comes as the President has vowed to rid the government of all employees holding fake academic qualifications and ensure they paid back all the money they had earned.
