As anti-government protests resume in Kenya watch Communist Party of Kenya National Vice Chairperson Booker Ngesa Omole argue that Kenya only has 'two tribes' the 'haves and have-nots' and that the 'war we have in our country is a class war'. Booker also blasts President William Ruto for his decision to cut subsidies to Kenyans living in poverty as well as the subservience of the bourgeois Kenyan political class to international capitalist institutions like the IMF and The World Bank.
Booker argues that the recent protests in Kenya have been motivated by opposition to the 'rogue' IMF and The World Bank while proposed bipartisan talks will do nothing to help the plight of ordinary Kenyans. He also argues that Kenya is still haunted by neocolonial structures. Although the British white settlers left the country many years ago, they have been replaced by 'a Black oppressor'.
Multiple protests have broken out in Kenya about the ongoing cost of living crisis in the country since March. Protesters have been furious at the ending of subsidies and rising taxes imposed by President Ruto's government. For example, Ruto has removed fuel subsidies while doubling fuel levies and increasing taxes on basic commodities. Inflation has rapidly increased and the country is at risk of defaulting on its loans.
Ruto introduced this brutal austerity regime through the Finance Act which was backed by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Police have fired tear gas and live ammunition at protesters and according to Amnesty International, at least 30 protesters have been killed by the police since the protests began.
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