PART 1: The Story
Volcanoes do not erupt suddenly, although they seem to do so. It may take years or decades of underground activities which build up the pressure to push lava out of the ground. In the same way, social ‘eruptions’ do not happen without years and decades of underground and overground work by those most affected by the bourgeois mis-rule in countries under capitalism and imperialism. Many working class activities have remained hidden from official public notice in Kenya and so the recents events came as a surprise to many, including the ruling class and international finance, among others. So, some background may help.
Contradictions in Kenyan Society
The existence of capitalism in Kenya is often ignored or taken for granted as a ‘social norm’, just as the presence of air is taken for granted as a natural phenomenon. And yet, the manifestation of its existence is everywhere: lack of employment, housing, water, healthcare, education, appropriate infrastructure for the working class — in other words, means of survival. Poor wages and unemployment for workers, landlessness and poor returns for peasants and rural workers are also caused by the same capitalist forces. The fact that the ruling elite faces no such shortages explains why these facts and capitalism itself have remained hidden. For them, life is perfect with everything they need — and more — easily available.
While colonialism was defeated in 1963, imperialism, which was behind the colonial and neo-colonial phases in Kenya, was not. It continued where colonialism had left and created a new homeguard — comprador — class, just as the colonial regime had created the first set of homeguards to fight Mau Mau. Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel arap Moi, Uhuru Kenyatta and now William Ruto have been declared chief homeguards to keep Kenya under imperialist control.
Class division and class struggle are the primary facts about Kenya, not only today, but during colonialism and after independence too. It was the young generation during colonial days who decided that resistance against colonialism has to take a different turn — from local wars and petitioning the enemy to active, national struggle, armed, if necessary. This qualitative change in strategy led to the defeat of colonialism and brought independence to Kenya. Today, Kenya is undergoing a similar qualitative change in its struggle against capitalism and imperialism under a new generation of young warriors.
Thus, the social volcano is building up even more pressure. But a spark to set it ablaze was missing — until now.
The Spark
The spark was created, ironically, by capitalism which, as Marx explained, carries the seeds of its own destruction. Capitalism in our times needs an educated workforce able to navigate the new world created by information technologies. While at independence, there was only one university — University of Nairobi — the number has increased in 2024 as follows:
Public Chartered Universities: 35
Accredited Public University Constituent Colleges: 6
Accredited Private Chartered Universities: 25
Accredited Private University Constituent Colleges: 3
Institutions with Letters of Interim Authority: 8
Specialised Degree Awarding Universities (Public): 2
In addition to these, there are a number of campuses of overseas universities and well as a large number of colleges of higher learning. In keeping with this expansion, the number of university students also increased. Those enrolled in universities in 2022/23 was almost 563,000.
Unemployed Educated Workers Without Trade Unions
Imperialism influenced the policy of the ‘independent’ government in every aspect, particularly its land and finance policies. In addition, it had seen the power of trade unions which influenced Mau Mau in its armed struggle by providing it with working class ideology. Under imperialist guidance, the new government separated the political aspect of trade union work and instead gave it a narrow ‘industrial’ remit to keep it away from class and national politics. In order to ensure that its new policy was well implemented, it set up the government-controlled Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) and linked it up with Western international trade unions. It did succeed in its policy as there is a notable absence of trade unions in working-class and people’s struggles today.
Yet, the hundreds of thousands of students in universities, colleges and schools have managed to acquire working-class consciousness as they follow global struggles against imperialism on their mobile phones. Their formal education may not have taught them the working class history of Kenya and Africa, but their access to such information was easily available on-line. Out of a population of over 56 million in 2024, there were almost 22 million internet users in Kenya; Internet penetration stands at 40%; the number of social media users increased by 2.2 million (ie an increase of 25%) between 2020 and 2021. Mobile connections in Kenya in 2024 stood at 66 million.
The knowledge and national and international news and working class perspective that trade unions had provided during Kenya’s war of independence are now being provided on the Internet which links Kenyan — and indeed, African — youth with each other and with progressive forces around the world. Many of the young people are social justice activists, often unpaid, as they find it difficult to get jobs in the Kenya. The Federation of Kenya Employers notes:
Although the overall unemployment in Kenya is at 12.7 percent, youth (15 – 34 year olds), who form 35 percent of the Kenyan population, have the highest unemployment rate of 67 percent.
Many of these unemployed are university, college and higher education graduates, with advanced skills in the use of digital technologies.
Growth of Study Circles
We saw how there exists in Kenya a group of well-educated young people who had expertise in using digital technologies and who use social media to articulate their demands from the government of Kenya. But educated youth and media skills, necessary as they are, do not automatically create class consciousness which is an essential requirement for any social or political movement to succeed. Class consciousness is what trade unions provided in the past. With the silencing of radical trade unions, this important source of raising workers’ class consciousness is missing today. Also missing is an active organised working class itself, defined as Karl Marx defined it: “the working class or proletariat as individuals who sell their labour power for wages and who do not own the means of production”. Lenin emphasised the need for organising for building socialism. Are these elements missing from resistance in Kenya today? There is also a danger of the movement being hijacked by the bourgeoisie and international finance to pretend to change, but leading to the same imperialist exploitation. Imperialism cannot afford to ‘lose’ its grip on Kenya as it will set an important message to all the working class in Africa. Indeed some countries have already seen a Kenya-style youth resistance movements. Thus, the struggle for Kenya will be harder than in many other African countries.
However, the young people in Kenya were well educated in understanding social and political forces at play in Kenya and globally. Many have educated themselves and others by participating in a large number of study groups that have become well established over the last 5 years or so. Some are based at the various Social Justice Centres, others were linked to a growing number of political organisations, such as the Revolutionary Socialist League. Among many such organisations, Ukombozi Library has become a trend-setting in charting a new path for libraries in Africa. It has become a centre of many study groups, as Waweru and Balhorn explain:
The library recently launched a series of study and discussion sessions for college and university students and social justice activists from both the older and younger generations. Geared towards sharpening attendees’ ideological standpoint, the sessions are conducted at the library every Monday from 17:00 to 19:00. Activists also use the space to organize key events that are ignored by the ruling class and the government, such as Kimathi Day (18 February) and African Liberation Day (25 May). Dedan Kimathi was the leader of the Land and Freedom Army, popularly known as the Mau Mau, which is credited with achieving Kenya’s independence from colonial rule. Over the years, the Kenyan neo-colonial regimes have ignored the contribution made by the Mau Mau under the leadership of Kimathi. It is against this backdrop of official silence that activists organize activities to celebrate the Mau Mau and Kimathi’s work. The activity is also meant to inspire people in their daily struggles today … The library has also become a key reference centre in matters to do with the Mau Mau, with Nairobi journalists visiting us to find materials on the subject.
An important issue is the availability of relevant material for study sessions. Many socialist and Marxist resources are now available online. In addition, new Kenyan material is also now available, as Kimani and Bullhorn show:
As one of very few (and perhaps only) sources of Marxist and socialist literature in Kenya, the Ukombozi Library is a unique and deeply worthwhile endeavour, contributing to the revival of socialist thinking and action in Africa following decades of repression and neoliberal political hegemony.
Such material is supplemented by publications from Vita Books which provides some missing ideological and historical material for the young readers as part of their study.
The IMF Push Lights the Spark
Thus, all the ingredients for a major resistance movement were ready. It just needed a final event that could set the prairie fire alight. The ruling class and its financial and imperialist backers were high with their success in capturing Kenya completely since Ruto became the President. He had no legitimacy in Kenya as he had avoided being tried by the International Court of Justice. Yet he managed to build support and used corrupt methods to get into power. He immediately surrendered the reigns of the country to IMP dictates and jumped into the clutches of USA. With the euphoria from these ‘successes’, he introduced the Finance Bill 214 as dictated by IMF. That was it. The fire was lit and took over the country. The rest is history. It is not the aim of this article to document and analyse events as they are unfolding in Kenya. A selected reading list is added at the end of this article to provide further reading for those interested.
Liberating Culture, Resisting Massacres
An important aspect of the resistance in Kenya is that it has liberated artists and activists to articulate new forms and content for their output. Just as Mau Mau launched many songs of liberation and developed new channel of communications, the activists today are creating their own content and forms of expressing the ideas and thoughts that inspire their liberation. Mau Mau used underground and overground press and had control over 50 newspapers to disseminate their views. The activists today use social and other media to articulate their visions and news.
While the response so far from the Ruto to people’s demand is promising, the struggle is far from over. The only solution in the long term for Kenya is to move out of the IMF clutches and possibly join BRICS. That would require a well developed strategy from those on the streets today.
At the same time, it should not be forgotten that the progress so far has been at the expense of dozens, perhaps, hundreds, who have been massacred and assassinated under Ruto’s orders. And hundreds who have been wounded. Someone who claims to be listening to people on the street would not continue killing people unless he has another agenda behind his sweet talk. These are dangerous times for Kenya. The struggle is long and hard. Its reality cannot adequately be covered in words alone. So herePart 2 of this article contains some images from social media which capture the murders and massacres by Ruto. In 1989, Umoja documented ‘Moi’s Reign of Terror’. It is time now to document Ruto’s Reign of Terror. But Ruto faces a more fierce force lined up against him. The struggle for real liberation is on-going.
But the hopeful sign for the future is that there is awareness of what the real issues are and what the solution is, as Ben Curry (2024) explains:
There is no future for the masses under capitalism. This system must be smashed and replaced with a democratically planned socialist economy. Only along this road will the masses find a future worthy of human beings.
Once the Kenyan workers are in power, it would be possible to cancel the debt, to nationalise the assets of big business and foreign capital, and the huge natural wealth of the country, and to plan the economy to dramatically improve the living standards of all. Such a socialist workers’ republic in Kenya would become a beacon for the downtrodden masses of the whole continent and the whole world. That would be a real revolution that would soon spread to East Africa and far beyond.
That clarity is what has been lacking, at least in the public domain, during the period of Mau Mau and the underground resistance by the December Twelve Movement and Mwakenya. It was the Kenya People’s Union (KPU) that had openly sought socialism for Kenya. The young generations today are not likely to be banned, detailed and silenced as KPU was. There is hope for the future when ideology is grabbed by the activists. A beacon for the downtrodden masses of the whole continent and the whole world — indeed!
Further Reading: A Selection
Chukunzira, Angela (2024): Smartphones and dance-moves – how the anti-people legislation in Kenya was beaten by the people. Review of African Political Economy. June 29,2024. Available at: https://roape.net/2024/06/29/smartphones-and-dance-moves-how-the-anti-people-legislation-in-kenya-was-beaten-by-the-people/. [Assessed: 13-07-2024].
Curry, Ben (2024): Kenya: ‘Welcome to the Gen Z revolution!’ Communist Revolution. June 25, 2024. Available at: https://www.marxist.ca/article/kenya-welcome-to-the-gen-z-revolution. [accessed: 13-07-2024].
Gathara, Patrick (2024): Don’t let the elders steal your revolution. The New Humanitarian. 10 July 2024. Available at: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2024/07/10/dont-let-elders-steal-your-revolution-kenya. [Accessed: 13-07-2024].
Githethwa, Njuki (2024): Everything must fall, everything must change. Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE). Available at: https://roape.net/2024/07/08/everything-must-fall-everything-must-change/. [Accessed: 13-07-2024].
Guthell, Lena (2024): Kenya’s protests happened in every major urban centre – why these spaces are explosive. Theconversation. June 27, 2024.Available at: https://theconversation.com/kenyas-protests-happened-in-every-major-urban-centre-why-these-spaces-are-explosive-233350. [accessed: 13-07-2024].
Iqbal, Musa (2024): Kenyans rally against US imperialist schemes, protest IMF-imposed tax bill. Press TV. Available at: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/07/12/729193/Kenyans-rally-against-US-imperialist-schemes,-protest-IMF-imposed-tax-bill. [Accessed: 13-07-2024].
Kimeu, Caroline (2024): How Kenya’s Youth, Middle Classes and Working Poor Joined Forces. New Lines Magazine. July 9, 2024. Available at: https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/how-kenyas-youth-middle-classes-and-working-poor-joined-forces/. [Accessed: 13-07-2024].
Mwaura, Job (2024): Kenya protests: Gen Z shows the power of digital activism – driving change from screens to the streets. theconversation June 22, 2024. Available at: https://theconversation.com/kenya-protests-gen-z-shows-the-power-of-digital-activism-driving-change-from-screens-to-the-streets-233065. [Accessed: 13-07-2024].
Patterson, Zachary (2024): Uprising in Kenya – thousands protest austerity and struggle for
Liberation. Review of African Political Economy June 27, 2024. Available at: https://roape.net/2024/06/27/uprising-in-kenya-thousands-protest-austerity-and-struggle-for-liberation/. [Accessed: 13-07-2024].
Shiraz Durrani is a Kenyan political exile living in London. He has worked at the University of Nairobi as well as various public libraries in Britain where he also lectured at the London Metropolitan University. Shiraz has written many articles and addressed conferences on aspects of Kenyan history and on politics of information in the context of colonialism and imperialism. His books include Kenya’s War of Independence: Mau Mau and its Legacy of Resistance to Colonialism and Imperialism, 1948-1990 (2018, Vita Books). He has also edited Makhan Singh – A Revolutionary Kenyan Trade Unionist (2017, Vita Books) and Pio Gama Pinto: Kenya’s Unsung Martyr,1927 – 1965 (2018, Vita Books). He is a co-editor of The Kenya Socialist. and edited Essays on Pan-Africanism (2022, Vita Books, Nairobi). His latest book (2023) is Two Paths Ahead: The Ideological Struggle between Capitalism and Socialism in Kenya, 1960-1990. Some of his articles are available at https://independent.academia.edu/DurraniShiraz and books at: https://www.africanbookscollective.com/search-results?form.keywords=vita+books
