Francis Atwoli road sign in Kileleshwa burnt down

A road sign recently named after Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli in Kileleshwa has been burnt down.

The road sign, according to images seen by Citizen Digital, seems to have either been vandalised in the dead of the night on Monday or early Tuesday morning using tyres by unknown people.

This comes following the announcement that Atwoli was on Monday morning re-elected for a record fourth time as a Member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) governing body in Geneva, Switzerland, for the period 2021-2024.

Formerly known as Dik Dik road, the street was renamed Francis Atwoli road in honour of the trade unionist in May this year by the Nairobi County government.

The signage was removed by unknown people shortly after that, before Atwoli announced that the county government had re-erected it and put CCTV in place to monitor it from vandals.

Activist Boniface Mwangi, upon return from a European trip, visited the area to bring down the sign but said he was met by three youth allegedly hired by Atwoli to guard the sign.

The burning down of the sign on Monday has elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans on social media.

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Nelson Havi said the move was to show the COTU boss that Kenyans have “low tolerance levels to mediocrity.”

“Vandalism or natural reaction of citizenry taken for granted by the political elites?” Posed lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi.

Francis Atwoli finally learns that there are Kenyans with low tolerance levels to mediocrity. To others of similar mindset as Atwoli, "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN”. ^DoS pic.twitter.com/j72w0aK1Yj

— Nelson Havi (@NelsonHavi) June 15, 2021

Vandalism or the NATURAL reaction of CITIZENRY taken for granted by the political elites? pic.twitter.com/QJDr8Z8Ivy

— Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC (@ahmednasirlaw) June 15, 2021

A short story, in honour of Francis Atwoli's 4th re-election as a Member of @ilo's Governing Body🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/5xmiew6v7O

— MT🇵🇸 (@MarigaThoithi) June 14, 2021

The only problem Boniface Mwangi has with Francis Atwoli Road is because he is not a fellow Kikuyu. Otherwise, how many roads are named after useless people in this Nairobi city?

— Hon Lee Makwiny (@leemakwiny) June 15, 2021

SG Francis Atwoli road in Kileleshwa Was vandalized and burnt down by some goons , The only goon who declared in Public to bring it down was Boniface Mwangi , Anyway what does the CCTVs show 🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/JLDzAs0lOw

— 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐌𝐭𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐳𝐢 (ʙᴀꜰ)🗨️🇰🇪 (@FrankMtetezi) June 15, 2021

As as sustainability expert I condemn the burning of Francis Atwoli road sign. That is waste of energy. I recommend, instead, that those who recycle metal should be stealing new signs every night, for purposes of reuse, until the county undertakes proper public participation. pic.twitter.com/AdiXboj6oH

— Prof. Alfred Omenya (@aomenya) June 15, 2021