Francis Atwoli: Why I Married Mary Kilobi
The Secretary General of COTU, Francis Atwoli left Kenyans with a deep laugh when he delivered his speech to celebrate workers’ day in May in Nairobi.
The 73-year-old Atwoli for the first time talked about the duties of his 38-year-old journalist wife Mary Kilobi.
Atwoli said that he is old now and cannot do much and said that the main reason for marrying Kilobi was because he did not want to hire someone who did not know the nap engine who would come to tax him including stealing his property.
Atwoli said that Kilobi does a lot of work in his life including checking his clothes, reminding him when to take medicine among other duties that another outsider could not do.
“I am now old, even if you see my wife here, she is young. Mary Kilobi’s job is to check the sock I’m wearing if it’s okay, to remind me that it’s time to take medicine, if I want to go to Europe, she tells me what time the flight is…” Atwoli said.
Atwoli with a sense of humor also mentioned that Kilobi reminds him of the clothes he wore yesterday and reminded him not to repeat them, to show him the way through among other tasks that are done by the assistant.
“This bag you are carrying is from last year, the gate you should go through is this… that is the work of my wife Mary Kilobi,” Atwoli said.
Apart from talking about the responsibilities and reasons for marrying Kilobi as his wife, he also touched on politics and recalled how he was in the front line of campaigning for Azimio leader Raila Odinga without success.
Atwoli said that for one period, they met with former Starehe Member of Parliament Maina Kamanda who gave them an early warning that former president Uhuru Kenyatta would not benefit Odinga in his race to succeed him in the Nairobi palace.
About The Author
