Rose Omano

Mme. Rose OMAMO was recently elected Deputy President of the International Trade Union Confederation for Africa (ITUC-Africa), which has 17 million declared members and 107 affiliated trade union centres in 52 African countries. Rose is a Kenyan trade unionist who worked for nearly thirty years on a car and bus assembly line in Mombasa. One of only two women working in the plant, she was the first woman ever to be voted a General Secretary of a national trade union in Kenya, that’s the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers, one of the biggest affiliates of the Central Organization of Trade Unions in Kenya (COTU -K).  Through this, she became known as a champion of women participating equally in the labour market and also in the trade union movement. She was soon elected to the women’s  committee of ITUC Africa. She is the Pioneer Chair person of COTU-K Women Committee, a Committee she initiated and started while serving as a branch secretary of her union and became it’s  Chair person. She is also COTU -K Executive Board Member, a position she has been elected to twice unopposed by national delegates. She also represents the Kenyan workers and is their spokesperson at the National Social Security Find, NSSF, A contributory Fund for workers.