Nairobi — Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli has condemned the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition protests and urged Kenyan workers to shy away from them.

Atwoli said on Sunday that the protests risk burning the country with the workers being the ultimate losers in the end.

"We do not want to put the country on fire. We want to remain as brothers and sisters," he said.

Atwoli, an ally of the Raila Odinga-led coalition noted that he will not mislead the country's workers into participating in the Azimio demonstrations.

"I will not take workers to protests because the country already has a President. I have already talked with the President and he has committed to helping workers," he said.

The government has already banned the Azimio anti-government protests, but Odinga has vowed to proceed with them and is gearing up to hold "the mother of all" rallies on Monday.

Atwoli however, noted that there is a need for the country to "mature up and maintain peace".

While citing Kenya's deadliest ever 2007 post-election violence, Atwoli reminded Kenyans that "it is better to have a bad government than having none at all".

He quipped that although he was a bitter critic of President William Ruto, he will do the reasonable thing and work with his administration for the betterment of Kenya's workers who have entrusted him to lead them.

"I will be at the forefront in telling the President his shortcomings but I will work with him to ensure the welfare of the workers improves,' he said.

He acknowledged that President Ruto outsmarted the Azimio team notwithstanding the brigade having the backing of the previous regime of former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

"President Ruto is a smart politician and we need to be reasonable as Kenyans. Some things are irreversible," he noted.