Cotu secretary Francis Atwoli has taken a swipe at MPs describing them as “cheap” and worse off compared to Koinange Street prostitutes.
He spoke amid the Sh10,000 bribery allegations rocking Parliament. A number of MPs have been accused of getting cash to reject the report.
Speaking at the Trade Unions East Africa conference on Tuesday, Atwoli said the legislators lowered their standards and that “Koinange workers are better”.
“Afadhali wale watoto wetu wenye wanaenda Koinange usiku. Wanajitafutia chakula kuliko wabunge ambao hawana dignity mpaka wanahongwa na Sh10,000 (Our children who go to Koinange are better off. They feed themselves unlike an MP who goes to Parliament to get Sh10,000 bribes).”
MPs allegedly received between Sh10,000 and Sh30,000 to shoot down the report that indicted Treasury CS Henry Rotich, his EAC counterpart Adan Mohamed and former Agriculture CS Willy Bett.
The legislators probing the case had proposed that the three be punished for allowing sugar into the country.
MPs have denied the bribery allegations with some claiming they were donations for Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno’s wedding.
Following the events, Atwoli said Kenya has cheap leaders who have lost their dignity because of the poverty in the country.
He said poverty can only be reduced if the cheap MPs work closely with the government.
“If we have cheap MPs, we will have a cheap government and cheap legislation. Everything will be cheap,” he said. “Cheap is expensive as it has always been said.”
The Cotu boss further said the bribery claims are not only demeaning to the country but also derailing the war on corruption.
“If a whole Member of Parliament can be bribed with Sh10,000, you can imagine the level of corruption in this country,” he said.
Atwoli said the union supported President Uhuru Kenyatta in the fight against graft and that he will propose that the Constitution be amended if the fight succeeds.
“We will increase his presidential term so he can finish up these people,” he said.
Uhuru on Sunday directed the youth to effect citizen’s arrest of leaders found looting resources.
“The power is in your hands to end corruption and impunity. Do not fear anyone because they have money. If the looted cash is recovered it will benefit all of us,” he said.
Atwoli said those who will be left behind after Uhuru’s term will compromise Central Bank of Kenya and that youths will suffer the consequences.
He claimed the MPs who received the Sh10,000 bribe will “just distribute it among the unemployed youth even if each gets Sh1,000”.
The workers’ union boss said only MPs up to the 8th Parliament were “real”.
“They were leaders with dignity, had respect for Parliament, and legislated laws that were relevant to Kenya,” the union leader said.
On the demolition of illegal structures, Atwoli hit at Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu on his hilarious proposal for rivers to be moved.
“These are some of the people who have been supporting impunity in this country,” he said citing the incident where Waititu, who had been serving as Embakasi MP at that time, led youths in evicting a developer from a disputed piece of land.
