Atwoli Allows Fazul to Audit ‘Soldiers” Funds Usage

The primary goal of the Confederation of Trade Unions (COTU), according to its website, is to uplift the social, economic, and political status of all workers in the country.

Furthermore, the union states that all its activities aim to focus on the needs of workers at the national, regional, and international levels.

Moreover, COTU aims to promote programs to educate workers about their rights and their relationships with their employers.

Essentially, it is COTU’s responsibility to support its 45 member unions in advocating for the interests of their members to ensure they receive fair compensation for the services they provide.

Workers who are members of these unions pay monthly dues to support their activities; the funds are used to finance their operations.

Part of these funds is also allocated to COTU to support its activities in achieving its vision and goals.

It is the duty of these unions to use these funds in a manner that advances the agenda of advocating for the interests of workers rather than the interests of union officials.

However, it is an open secret that there have been instances where officials of these unions have been accused of misappropriating or failing to be accountable for these funds, which are the fruit of the workers’ labor.

It is for this reason that the exercise conducted by the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) to audit the deductions from the salaries of private security guards, which are submitted to their unions to advocate for their interests, is significant.

Other sectors should emulate this example.

COTU Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, who boasts of being the number one advocate for workers’ interests, should not oppose such an activity but rather support it.

PSRA Chief Executive Officer Fazul Mohammed is not wrong when he says that it is the responsibility of the leading authority to ensure that the monthly contributions of the 1.3 million security guards are properly utilized by COTU.

The National Union for Private Security Workers (KNPSWU) should also be accountable for the funds it receives monthly as contributions from workers of various private security companies.