Mtetezi Files Petition Challenging COTU (K) Elections, Issues Stern Warning During Press Briefing at Milimani.

Mtetezi leader Francis Awino(r)
Nairobi, Kenya,  March 26, 2026, By George Mutua.

The grassroots advocacy group Mtetezi, the Grassroots Economic Justice Movement, has thrown the legitimacy of the recent Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Kenya elections into question, announcing it has filed a constitutional petition challenging the electoral process.

Speaking during a press briefing held outside the Milimani Law Courts on Thursday, Mtetezi leader Francis Awino issued a stern warning, vowing that the organization will not relent until what he termed as impunity within the trade union movement is dismantled.

"We are sending a very stern warning to those who have turned our labour movement into a personal fiefdom. Your days of operating in the shadows are numbered," Awino told journalists. "The law will catch up with you. We will not allow the voices of Kenyan workers to be stolen through opaque backroom deals."

In a press statement released earlier, Mtetezi expressed serious concerns over what it termed a lack of transparency, legality, and accountability in the elections that culminated in the March 2026 Delegates Conference in Kisumu. The group alleges that the election process, which saw veteran trade unionist Francis Atwoli declared Secretary General, was conducted without public disclosure of key details, including delegate lists, nomination procedures, and oversight mechanisms.

The legal challenge stems from an earlier information request made by Mtetezi on November 4, 2025. According to the statement, the organization formally requested audited financial statements from 2021 to 2024, governance records, and election preparation materials. Citing Article 35 of the Constitution and the Access to Information Act, Mtetezi claims the request was neither acknowledged nor responded to within the statutory timelines, and no reasons for the non-disclosure have been provided to date.

Mtetezi argues that this refusal to provide information before the election created an opaque environment that compromised the electoral process.

The constitutional petition filed by the movement seeks several key reliefs from the court. These include declarations that the failure to provide access to financial and governance records is unconstitutional, and that the elections themselves were conducted in contravention of the law.

Crucially, Mtetezi is seeking an order to restrain the formal registration an recognition of the officials elected in Kisumu, including Secretary General Francis Atwoli. The petition further demands the full disclosure of the requested audited accounts, governance records, membership registers, and election documents, and asks the court to direct the conduct of fresh elections under a transparent, verifiable, and lawfully supervised framework.

Mtetezi framed the petition as an affirmation of the constitutional principles of transparency, accountability, and democratic participation, asserting that the case is a critical effort to safeguard the rights of workers to meaningfully engage in the governance of their own institutions.

Awino concluded the briefing by calling on workers across the country to remain vigilant, adding that Mtetezi will be moving to the labour courts to ensure that any registration of the disputed officials is halted immediately.

The filing of the petition comes as steps were reportedly underway to formalize the recognition of the officials elected at the contentious March conference. COTU (K) has yet to issue a public response to the allegations or the legal challenge.