PI Briefing | Kenya resists

Kenyans are struggling for their dignity and sovereignty.

Kenya resists

Dear friend,

The people of Kenya are facing an economic crisis. In the last year, the prices of staple goods such as sugar, carrots and onions have risen by 50 percent. The price of maize flour doubled in the last two years. Wages, on the other hand, haven’t kept up with prices; ninety percent of Kenyans earn the same or less than they did in 2020.

Rather than act decisively in the interests of the struggling people of Kenya, the government of President William Ruto surrendered Kenya’s sovereignty to the International Monetary Fund, the United States and NATO. It earned Ruto the first African leader’s state visit to the United States in 16 years and the opprobrium of his people.

The Ruto administration introduced a number of new taxes and doubled the value-added tax on fuel, leading to record-high prices for essentials. Furthermore, the Finance Bill of 2024 increased additional taxation on everyday goods, including bread, cooking oil and sanitary towels.

In June, the people of Kenya poured into the streets of Nairobi and other cities to protest these hikes. In response, police and military forces barricaded major roads and assaulted, gassed, and executed protesters in broad daylight.

At the end of the month, Ruto was forced to withdraw some of the IMF-dictated policies. But the story isn’t over. The people of Kenya are now locked in a struggle for their sovereignty.

IMF interference in domestic economic affairs is nothing new for Kenyans. IMF policies were forced on Kenyans in the 1990s and again in 2011 and 2013, and they are well aware of their consequences. That’s why despite risking arrest and death, so many have taken to the streets to demand that Ruto Must Fall and be replaced by a new government willing to reclaim Kenyan sovereignty and popular dignity.

Kenya’s self-determination has implications far beyond East Africa. As a "major non-NATO ally" of the United States, Kenya is increasingly becoming the tip of the spear of imperialist aggression both regionally and globally. Last year, Kenya joined European states in pushing for military intervention in Niger. Recently, the first contingent of 400 Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti — proxies in the US’s neo-colonial designs for the long-suffering island.

The Progressive International stands firmly with the people of Kenya. A victory for the Kenyan people would mark a defeat for imperialism everywhere and a milestone in the struggle for popular sovereignty.

In solidarity,

The Progressive International Secretariat

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