Editor's Review

  • In a statement on Tuesday, Atwoli noted that burning of the road sign named in his honour doesn’t hurt him, since he has achieved much and his name is all over the world.

Veteran Kenyan trade unionist Francis Atwoli has condemned the torching down of a road sign named after him in Kileleshwa Nairobi.

In a statement on Tuesday, Atwoli noted that burning of the road sign named in his honour doesn’t hurt him, since he has achieved much and his name is all over the world.

According to Atwoli, those behind the heinous act will be “haunted forever” by their actions.

“Bringing down an honorary road signage under my name doesn’t hurt me. On the flip side, it will haunt, for life, those who are behind it. For how does it benefit them? How do you sleep at night knowing you are a vandal?

“My name is all over the world and one doesn’t require a street signage for them to know who Francis Atwoli is. The name will live in posterity taking into account my years of selfless service to the workers in Kenya and the world.

“If anything, the signage was just an act of honour bestowed to me by Nairobians taking into account my many years of service,” Atwoli said.

The road sign was burnt on Monday night by unknown persons a few hours after Atwoli was re-elected for the fourth time as a Member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) governing body in Geneva, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, a photo has emerged online indicating a group of men erecting a new road sign at the same spot where the previous one was torched.

The Nairobi City County is yet to issue a statement on the vandalism.