For siding with greedy MPs, Atwoli should go

Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli is a “pit-bull”. He’s a ferocious man with a cobra-like neck.

He’s not genteel, and I’ve never heard anyone accuse him of being a gentleman. His name conjures up a bloviator foaming at the mouth, microphone in hand. He breathes fire to “protect” workers.

But methinks his time is up. Cotu should send him packing. That’s because he’s completely out of touch with the values of the new Constitution. You know what they say – you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. His “dictatorship” over Cotu must end pronto.

The final straw for Mr Atwoli came last week when he defended the “right” of MPs to pillage the national purse. I know Mr Atwoli wasn’t gifted with much formal schooling. But common decency and justice have nothing to do with school.

Foul play

Even a toddler knows unfairness and foul play when it sees either one. This is the question: why can’t Mr Atwoli keep his mouth shut when he has nothing better to say?

He’s committed another cardinal sin and urged MPs to cannibalise the Constitution if it won’t allow them to rob Kenyans. Unspeakably, he said that MPs should disband the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for “adjusting” the “loot” they take home. He’s conflating the Constitution with toilet paper.

The Legislature isn’t a place where MPs make laws. No sir. They come to the august House to “make money”. That’s why people lie, cheat, and even kill to be elected. Being an MP in Kenya has always been an open cheque to the nation’s Treasury. It’s always been like bees to honey.

That’s why some of the most corrupt and seediest persons usually get elected to the Legislature. The 2010 Constitution sought to change this culture.

That’s why it created the SRC to bring sanity to public pay. The SRC, chaired by the able Sarah Serem, mustn’t cave in to blackmail and skullduggery by Mr Atwoli and benighted MPs. Kenyans dare MPs to disband the SRC.

The charge against the SRC is led by Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi. He has filed a petition with the Legislature to sack Ms Serem and disband the SRC.

He claims – incredibly – that she has violated the Constitution by setting a “fair wage” for MPs. I don’t know what planet, or cave, Mr Linturi, the MPs supporting him, and Mr Atwoli, inhabit.

For the record, Kenya’s per capita income is only $1,600 (Sh134,000). As many as 48 per cent of Kenyans live below the poverty line, and on less than a dollar a day.

Kenya is among the 30 poorest countries, ranking 152 out of 177. Kenya’s unemployment rate is 40 per cent. These are grim statistics. Salaries of MPs must be set with these figures in mind.

The SRC has reset MPs’ salaries to Sh532,500 a month, down from Sh851,000 in the last Parliament. Mr Atwoli cries that Sh532,500 a month would make MPs “poor”.

Mind you that’s a basic salary of Sh6.39 million a year. How Mr Atwoli can call such a salary – which is truly astronomical in Kenya – “poor” boggles the mind. It’s not lost on me that the Sh6.39 million is a base, and doesn’t include other benefits and perks that MPs enjoy.

The total package is much higher, and rivals the pay of MPs in rich countries. MPs shouldn’t come to the Legislature if they want a life of ostentation.

Mr Atwoli’s comments reveal two things. The first is that he has little understanding of the plight of the workers he claims to represent. It’s the wages of workers (taxpayers) that pays the salaries of MPs and other public servants.

Why would Mr Atwoli want workers, who earn a measly fraction of what MPs are paid, to be gouged even more by MPs? Why should the poorest pay to support the wealthiest? Mr Atwoli, what’s the moral logic of robbing the most vulnerable so that the most powerful can line their pockets?

Does Mr Atwoli represent MPs or workers?

Second, Mr Atwoli identifies more with MPs, and less with workers. It’s clear his social class interests lie with MPs, not workers.

Cotu has a chequered history. Under the Kanu regimes of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi, Cotu was a virtual department of the party-state. Its leaders were essentially picked by the State, making them supplicants to the Executive. It was quiet – and complicit – during the height of repression.

Only after Kanu was killed by Narc in 2002 did Cotu begin to find its voice. But that voice has been erratic and uneven. Under Mwai Kibaki’s regime, Cotu was often intellectually dishonest and opaquely run. It often saw civil society as a competitor, and not an ally. Mr Atwoli often uses it to advance his own political interests and agendas. He likes to hobnob with the rich and powerful.

Personal fiefdom

I end where I began. Mr Atwoli has ossified in his position at Cotu’s helm. He’s forgotten that Cotu is a trade union, not a political party, or personal fiefdom. This was made crystal clear when he supported MPs over workers in their request for a pay rise.

He’s lost whatever moral compass he might have had once upon a time. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely – as the old adage teaches us.

My view is that Mr Atwoli is drunk with his power and public visibility and has lost his way. He no longer knows why he’s sitting in office. That’s why I think it’s time for a new broom to sweep Cotu’s corridors.

Makau Mutua is Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC. Twitter @makaumutua