Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) secretary general Francis Atwoli sparked a pandemonium in a live interview on NTV when he called in to dress down a panellist on Thursday evening, May 29.

The programme on air was Mduara, in which activist Hussein Khalid was appearing as a panellist.

Hussein, who has been vocal against the manner in which some Kenyan and Ugandan activists were allegedly maltreated in Tanzania recently, was in the studio to discuss the significance of civil societies in political governance in the East African region.

In his averments, Hussein, who is the chief executive of Vocal Africa, held that civil societies have the right to check governments, justifying why the activists went to Tanzania to be in solidarity with the country's opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, who is facing treason charges.

An argumentative Atwoli would then call in, purporting to educate the panellists on the workings of the statutes that run the region.

He specifically picked an issue with Hussein, whom he accused of being malicious in his supposed agenda against elected governments in East Africa.

Atwoli argued that while the nations in EAC are purposed to be one and cooperate in key undertakings, each country is sovereign and is accustomed to its laws and peculiarities that are different from each other.

According to him, no one, regardless of their supposed prominence, reserves the right to dictate how the countries run in the guise of championing human rights.

"Hussein should know that Tanzania is an independent state like Kenya. You can't drive your activism agenda in the country and can't take what happens in Kenya to Tanzania. That is mistaken, and the ones doing it come across as clueless...I have the East African passport, but it doesn't mean that the passport gives me the authority to speak on behalf of Tanzania or Uganda, or Rwanda. I must seek permission to go to those countries," Atwoli said.

Source: TUKO.co.ke