Labour Day celebrations at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi were marked by visible tension after the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) was denied a chance to address workers during the national event.
The move highlighted growing friction between employers and union leaders amid mounting economic pressures.
The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General, Francis Atwoli, publicly criticised FKE, accusing it of undermining the Kenyan government by allegedly frustrating the ratification of two key International Labour Organization conventions — ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers, and Convention 190 on violence and harassment in the workplace.
“So anybody frustrating the ratification of ILO 189 and 190 is frustrating your government… these two conventions have been ratified worldwide, and Your Excellency, you need to also talk to the Federation of Kenya Employers — let them give us support in this direction,” Atwoli remarked.
COTU maintained that Kenya’s failure to ratify the two conventions has weakened its international labour standing. President William Ruto responded by pledging swift action.
“I am also pleased to announce that Kenya will ratify the two critical ILO conventions… Dr. Mutua and team, you know what you need to do so that when we come back here next year, we will report to the Kenyan workers that we have ratified and concluded our work,” the president stated.
In response, FKE expressed disappointment at being excluded from the national platform, calling the move unjust.
The federation maintained that it had acted in good faith and continues to engage constructively on national labour issues.
“There are international conventions which dictate the process to be followed… you should be ready, look at its processes, laws, systems, to be ready for implementation. So that is what we want done — then we will be ready to ratify,” Jacqueline Mugo, Federation of Kenya Employers CEO, pointed out.
FKE highlighted the difficult environment employers are operating in; citing high taxation, economic uncertainty, and mounting operational costs.
“But it is unfortunate that instead of handling issues through dialogue, which this sector runs on, we are then exposed to the kind of scenario we went through today,” Mugo added.
Despite the controversy, Labour Day celebrations went on as planned, with speeches from key labour leaders and government representatives focusing on improving workers’ welfare.
However, the absence of the employers’ voice has left a noticeable gap in what is traditionally a tripartite event.
