“Celebrate Me When I’m Alive” Atwoli Disputes Dik Dik Residents Stand Against Naming A Road After Him

For the past two years, the Nairobi County Government has taken up a role of beautifying the streets of Nairobi through renaming roads amongst other activities. Many roads have been named after legendary people of this nation including Mama Ngina Kenyatta, Ronald Ngala and many other roads. However the latest naming of a road was in Dik Dik community area where a road was named after COTU secretary general Francis Atwoli. At first the erected pole with the signpost was destroyed by unknown individuals prompting further intervention to prevent the residents from destroying it.

This move by the Nairobi county government has attracted a lot of criticism many saying that Atwoli has nothing to show this nation of what he has done, despite getting international recognition. According to advocate Oscar Litoore who is representing the Dik Dik community in a dispute in court over the naming of the road, he says that the due process for naming a road after a prominent person in the streets of Nairobi was not followed. He says the Nairobi county assembly.

However, Atwoli says that this ongoing circus is uncalled for, considering that he is deserving of the honor. He added that he despite many roads being named after people who died, he needs to be recognized while he is still alive and not when he is deceased.