The Secretary General of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU-K), Francis Atwoli, has raised the alarm over growing political instability in Africa, warning that unions must not stand by as peace and security deteriorate across the continent.
Speaking during the official opening of the ITUC-Africa Regional Conference on Peace and Security on Friday, July, 18, 2025, Atwoli emphasised that workers, women and children are the biggest victims whenever conflict and unrest break out.
“As COTU (K), we cannot afford to be bystanders and allow for political instability to creep in and destroy the peace that many depend on for economic and social reasons,” he said.
The high-level event brought together leaders from over 30 trade union national centres across Africa to deliberate on how unions can support peacebuilding efforts at national and regional levels.
Atwoli cited the recently released 2024 Global Peace Index, which reported a worrying decline in global peacefulness, with Sub-Saharan Africa registering increased coups, civil unrest, and violent extremism.
“Indeed, with the rising political instability and insecurity in many African Countries, jobs have beendestroyed as industries collapse, union density has declined as members lose livelihoods, military regimes have been on the rise with unions being labeled as adversaries and freedoms of association and collective bargaining being suppressed, and, finally, workers have been displaced into informal, exploitative, and unsafe employment,” he warned.
Dialogue, stability, and responsibility
COTU (K), he added, remains committed to promoting peace through social dialogue and tripartism, working with governments, employers, and workers to address pressing issues like youth unemployment and economic justice.
“At the same time, COTU has remained a steady and sober voice in calling for sobriety among the political class and reminding the youth not to be used by politicians to cause political instability where there is peace,” Atwoli remarked.
He also urged the media to play a more constructive role.
“Finally, I took time to call upon the media to practice responsible journalism where the media is not used to insight the public into actions that destabilize political stability.”
Kenneth Mwenda
Kenneth Mwenda is a digital writer with over five years of experience. He graduated in February 2022 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from The Co-operative University of Kenya. He has written news and feature stories for platforms such as Construction Review Online, Sports Brief, Briefly News, and Criptonizando. In 2023, he completed a course in Digital Investigation Techniques with AFP. He joined K24 Digital in May 2025. For inquiries, he can be reached at [email protected].
