Nairobi, Kenya, July 12—In mid-June, a million Kenyan youth in 34 out of 47 counties rose up to protest against government corruption and oppression. Spreading rapidly on social media, the courageous protests culminated in the storming of the Parliament while in session with the Members of Parliament (MPs) fleeing like cockroaches. After protesters threw rocks, the killer cops opened fire on them with tear gas, water cannons and live ammunition. So far there are 49 protesters dead, 361 injured, 32 disappearances, and 627 arrests.
The protests started with the passage of the 2024 Finance Bill that funds the annual budget. It included massive, anti-working-class tax hikes and more money for politicians. For example almost 3 million shillings (US$23,000) were allocated to wives of 3 high-level officials for offices (that sum could feed more than 80 working-class families for a year). The bill would dissolve 26 government corporations that provide services duplicated by private companies, resulting in mass layoffs and cuts in affordable services to the working class. Protesters demanded that the Finance Bill be rescinded and the resignation of President Ruto and those MPs who voted for the bill. The reform demands show a young, working class that is fed up with capitalist oppression and the ruling class trying to solve their financial crisis on the backs of workers.
Young Workers Take the Lead
The protesters are mainly Gen Z, men and women, students and university-educated lawyers, teachers, and doctors, without jobs or prospects of jobs. They claim there’s no leadership to this movement and refuse to meet with Ruto. Some MPs wanted to join the protests but they would only be allowed if they resigned from parliament. The protesters halted the demonstrations temporarily because the police and government had sent infiltrators in to sidetrack the demonstrations with individualist attacks and looting with the goal of discrediting the protests.
Ruto is widely despised by the Kenyan working class but his corruption is actually business as usual for capitalism. Kenya ranks 8th in the world in extreme poverty, but MPs are paid the second highest salaries in the world, earning over the equivalent of US$7,000 a month, in addition to US$750 every time they sit for a parliament session. While Kenya has its own national airline, Ruto flies all over the world in privately-leased Saudi jets. A common local expression is “When Ruto’s not flying, he’s lying.” Biden just named Kenya a major non-NATO ally, a first in sub-Saharan Africa.
As the U.S. bully loses out to Chinese and Russian influence in Africa, Ruto is trying to help it maintain a foothold. Inter-imperialist rivalry forces all governments to choose sides between the superpowers at the same time as it deepens the inequality in the world. Half of Kenya’s revenue goes to repay foreign debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the World Bank, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. In fact, Ruto wrote the Finance Bill in response to the IMF’s demands for cuts in spending.
Reforms Are Not Enough
As of this writing, the protests have forced Ruto to withdraw tax hikes and many other parts of the bill. The movement has already inspired and emboldened the working class of Kenya, as well as other African countries, such as Nigeria and Tanzania. While some protesters did carry signs connecting the Finance Bill to imperialism —“IMF, World Bank, Stop the Modern Day Slavery”— the focus was on reforms to the Kenyan government. Without internationalist, communist leadership and goals, all reform struggles are bound to fail. The ruling class of Kenya will eventually take back the reforms. By linking local issues to the failures of world-wide capitalism, the movement can broaden their base and work towards the goal of destroying capitalism with communist revolution. Progressive Labor Party supports workers' struggles around the world with the goal of world-wide communist revolution, Join us!
