Atwoli to Azimio: Ruto Outsmarted Us, We Must Accept His Presidency

Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) secretary-general Francis Atwoli has urged Azimio supporters to embrace William Ruto’s presidency.

While admitting that Ruto outsmarted the Raila Odinga-led coalition, Atwoli said they must accept and work with democratically elected leaders for the good of the country.

“I told people to get used to Raila’s voice, I didn’t know I would come back home to tell them to get used to Ruto’s voice. Give it to Ruto because we slept knowing we have won, only to be surprised by the results,” Atwoli said at a funeral in Kakamega County on Friday.

He added: “I walked with Raila everywhere and I was sure that Raila would emerge victorious, we thought we had people on our side. We did not know how to play good politics. William Ruto had the political skills and smartness.”

Atwoli, a fierce critic of Ruto, called on Odinga’s supporters and Kenyans to embrace the president-elect because “it is the will of God.”

“As human beings we plan, but it is God who always knows what is ahead and you can’t argue with God. Our president is Ruto, we have to accept him,” he said.

The trade unionist also hailed the inclusion of the Western region in Ruto’s government, citing Moses Wetang’ula, who has been elected as National Assembly Speaker, and Musalia Mudavadi, who is set to be the Chief Minister.

“We have not been left out, he (Ruto) also walked with our people, we have Musalia Musavadi, Moses Wetangula and Ababu Namwamba and we will walk together,” he stated.