These past few weeks have been heavy for most of us. What began as popular protests to demand justice for Albert Ojwang’ and all those martyred by the Kenyan state on 25th June 2024 quickly turned into a theater of repression and violence that left more than 60 of our compatriots dead between 25th June 2025 and 7th July 2025.

It is clear to most of us that recent arrests and judicial processes are coordinated and deliberate attempts by the Kenyan state aimed at not only intimidating activists, community organisers, progressive movements and organisations through the national security apparatus – but also an intentional move to deflect and scatter our collective organising efforts.

Here is  information about some of the HRD’s who are at risk.

The police officers have taken him to his offices at Mageuzi Hub where they are currently undertaking a search of the premises. The DCI have confiscated his personal phones and other electronic gadgets during this ongoing process. Boniface Mwangi is yet to be presented to any police station within or outside Nairobi up to this particular moment.

Kongamano la Mapinduzi is aware that Boniface Mwangi’s arrest is part of a larger scheme by the Kenyan state to arrest and persecute legitimate Human Rights Defenders in Kenya – and to additionally try to link them to the waves of state-instigated violence orchestrated during popular protests in June and July 2025 with an intention of painting the protests as violent. This fact is especially clear after the recent arrest and persecution of Mark Amiani, Mulungwa Garang and Mutunge Mwangi – members of the KLM Central Organising Committee – following the June 25th protests.

We at Kongamano la Mapinduzi know that the arrests, trumped-up charges and persecution of patriotic Kenyans will continue – for they are part of a wider scheme to slow down our forward march as a people. That is why we must stand firm as a progressive front, and not allow tyranny and repression to prevail.

Kongamano la Mapinduzi takes this earliest opportunity to ask all those who believe in peace, justice and dignity to extend solidarity to Boniface Mwangi and his family at this moment.

We additionally advise all KLM cadres to maintain a high level of vigilance and discipline. Comrades, be aware of your surroundings, for our shared struggle for a better Kenya needs all of us and our collective energy.

Aluta continua!

Signed,

KLM Central Committee

1. Monthly Commentaries
2. Current Issue Political Analysis
3. Historical Issue Political Analysis
4. July Organizing Call

1. June Commentaries

Albert Ojwang Murder

Albert Ojwang, a recent graduate and school teacher, was abducted by police from his home in front of his parents and young wife. He was then transported over 300 kilometers to Nairobi, where he was brutally tortured to death, under police custody. What followed was an outpouring of public outrage both online and offline, for such a heinous crime to have been committed by police against a GenZ, for speaking truth to power. Albert Ojwang had angered the Deputy Inspector of Police Eliud Lagat by exposing his high-level corruption in the police force. Albert case was not an isolated case of police violence, and Ruto’s fascist system of governance, it was a continuation of the abduction, torture and murder of GenZ by the Ruto regime – that followed the occupation of parliament on 24^th June 2025. By the time Albert Ojwang met his violent and gruesome death, Kenyan had had enough, so they poured to the streets on June 9^th 2025.

#ArrestEliudLagat Street Protests

The 9^th June protest was organized to demand for justice for the martyred comrade, Albert Ojwang, and to condemn police violence. The peaceful protest organized by GenZ had a successful turnout, and this angered the police. The Kenya Police became uncontrollably belligerent and riotous, they lobbed teargas indiscriminately, fired live and rubber bullets, and beat up protesters with whips and wooden batons. At the height of this uncalled-for violence by the Kenya Police, one police officer was captured on camera shooting and executing a mask seller, Boniface Kariuki, at point blank range. Unbeknown to the protesters, the Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, had also paid goons to disrupt the peaceful protesters with violence. The paid goons unleashed untold terror against peaceful protesters who were only armed with their phones and a Kenyan flag, as they went on a looting rampage. The police violence that the GenZ had come out to condemn in a peaceful protest, was met with the same police violence.

June 25^th 2025 GenZ Protests

#SiriNiNumbers hashtag did it for the GenZ June 25^th 2025 peaceful protest. Whether the hashtag was state sponsored or not, it did the job it was supposed to do. If the hashtag was supposed to shift the political agency from the existing political institutions to the sovereign people of Kenya, it did exactly that. The hashtag triggered the ordinary Kenyan to imagine a mammoth crowd marching for justice and freedom. The hashtag answered the question of what to do in the face of a government unleashing goons on protesters. The hashtag allowed the masses to put their trust in the power of their physical numbers, and collective aspiration, to bring about fundamental change in Kenya. The hashtag operationalized and demonstrated the power of the principle of exercising our sovereign rights directly, as opposed to indirectly through elected representatives. It is through the education, agitation and organizing of the masses to march as one, with a common aspiration, that Kongamano La Mapinduzi hopes to facilitate a revolution in Kenya.

#OccupyStatehouse2025

Kongamano La Mapinduzi as a grassroots sociopolitical movement believes that Kenya is not ready for a violent uprising, neither does it believe violence is necessary to achieve the aspirations of the GenZ revolution. However, this does not mean that Kongamano La Mapinduzi has put a cap on producing and practicing new and proven innovations in Kenya’s liberation struggle. Kongamano La Mapinduzi is not afraid to open up new political frontiers, the next new spaces of the struggle for social, economic and political power. Statehouse is a representation of power of the Executive arm of government, the same as the Supreme Court building, and Parliament building. When Kenyans have a problem with the judiciary, they are allowed by the constitution to present their petition to the Supreme Court building. Same if they were not happy with members of parliament, the constitution allows Kenyans to peacefully and unarmed, to present their petition to parliamentarians at parliament building. Kongamano La Mapinduzi holds that, if Kenyans are aggrieved by the executive arm of government, they are allowed by the 2010 constitution to march peacefully and unarmed, to present their social, economic and political demands, to the head of the executive arm of government at Statehouse Nairobi. The president uses statehouse as a symbol of political power. The citizens of Kenya hold more political power collectively, and are more deserving of access to the sit of power that is Statehouse, than any sitting president. It is the GenZ revolution that is going to make it a common culture, to march to Statehouse and present a petition. Statehouse will no longer be the exclusive preserve of the king of the day and his friends.

#FreeMapinduziComrades

After the incredibly successful 25^th June 2025 GenZ protests, the government had to retaliate against the organizers. The government of Kenya had to do something to prove and give life to the narrative that the peaceful protesters were responsible for the violence and destruction of property, as opposed to the reality of the matter, that the Kenya Police marching alongside paid goons, brutalized peaceful protesters, vandalized businesses, and burned down government buildings. Kongamano La Mapinduzi being one of the leading grassroots socio-political movements in Kenya, is currently bearing the brunt of the government fury against organized progressive collectives, who they accuse of organizing the GenZ protests. The Kenya government abducted an official of Ukweli Party, and two Central Committee members of Kongamano La Mapinduzi, detained them at Muthaiga Police station, and denied them legal counsel. The DCI went ahead to publish malicious and slanderous claims that the arrested comrades were the goons responsible for the violence and destruction that took place on during GenZ protests of 25^th June 2025. Efforts are still under way to secure their release and recovery. Kongamano La Mapinduzi is using the hashtag #FreeMapinduziComrades to give the three the pollical agency, not just the political agency of their work (Mapinduzi work), but also the political responsibility that that work demands and is historically encased in the word ‘comrade’.

2. Current Issue Political Analysis

Political Power: Human Rights or Political Based Approach

In the contemporary struggle for justice and dignity, many movements face a strategic crossroads: to pursue reform through the human rights framework or to adopt a more overtly political approach rooted in popular agency. While the human rights approach promises protection and progress within the bounds of law and state institutions, it has shown itself insufficient – particularly in societies marked by institutional decay, elite capture, and entrenched inequality. It is time to assert that the political-based approach – one that prioritizes the power of organized people over the authority of compromised institutions -is not only more radical but also more effective in the fight for liberation.

The global human rights movement emerged alongside the rise of neoliberalism in the late 20th century. It emphasized individual rights, legal redress, and the rule of law – tools that presume functional governance, impartial judiciary systems, and responsive bureaucracies. As political theorist Samuel Moyn argues in The Last Utopia, the post-Cold War human rights surge “was not a revolutionary program but a minimalist one,” providing moral language without a redistributive agenda. In neoliberal democracies, where inequality deepens even as rights are formally acknowledged, this apolitical framing has limited utility.

In Africa and the Global South, the limits of the rights-based approach are even starker. Governments routinely sponsor public participation processes as a façade of inclusion – town halls, consultative forums, and public participation platforms—only to ignore the outcomes. In Kenya, for example, citizens were forced to mobilize in 2024 against a punitive Finance Bill, despite extensive prior public participation processes. The views of the people, captured through legal channels, were brushed aside by political elites. Contrast this with the mass street protests that followed: it was direct political action—not polite institutional engagement—that forced a national reckoning.

The political approach, rooted in mobilization, confrontation, and people-led decision-making, restores agency to those most affected. Rather than appealing to the conscience of a corrupt state, this strategy confronts it. As Frantz Fanon reminds us in The Wretched of the Earth, “the colonized can see right away if decolonization is taking place in truth: the minimum demand is that the last become the first.” That reordering requires power, not petitions.

A political-based approach does not reject rights—it transcends them. It acknowledges that rights without power are hollow. It understands that liberation is not granted but taken. This framework demands more than procedural justice; it seeks structural transformation. Movements like Black Lives Matter, #FeesMustFall in South Africa, and the 2020 End SARS protests in Nigeria show the efficacy of political organization over legalism. These movements bypassed courts and parliamentary petitions, opting instead for public disruption, ideological clarity, and grassroots agency.

Political scientist Chantal Mouffe underscores the necessity of agonistic politics, where conflict is embraced as a site of democratic struggle. In her view, democracy “requires a vibrant clash of democratic political positions.” Street protests, occupations, boycotts, and civil disobedience are not disturbances to democracy – they are its lifeblood.

Ultimately, the path to power is not paved by institutional benevolence but by people’s determination. The human rights approach, with its cautious language and procedural optimism, too often ends up legitimizing the very structures that oppress. The political-based approach insists on rupture, not reform; people power, not parliamentary compromise.

In liberation struggles – whether for economic equity, land justice, or democratic space – the time has come to shift our weight from petitions to protests, from courtrooms to communities. Only then will power begin to move from the few to the many.

3. Historical Issue Political Analysis

Statehouse: The Place of Politics and Political Responsibility

In any democratic republic, the architecture of power is not merely symbolic – it is functional. Kenya’s Statehouse, the official residence and office of the president, represents more than a building; it is the epicenter of executive authority. As such, it is both a political and constitutional space where responsibility must meet the people’s demands. To petition the president at Statehouse is not a breach of order – it is the highest form of political engagement with the executive, rooted in democratic logic and civic duty.

The president of Kenya, as the head of the executive arm of government, bears the ultimate responsibility for the administration of national affairs. The executive oversees the implementation of laws, coordinates national policy, and wields immense influence over both domestic and foreign policy. It is thus logical, even essential, that citizens direct their demands – especially during times of crisis or discontent like the GenZ uprising – toward this branch of government.

As political scientist Dr. Nic Cheeseman argues, “The presidency in many African countries is not just the head of government; it is the focal point of power.” This centralization of authority means that real political action must often target the presidency directly. Statehouse, therefore, becomes not just the president’s office – it becomes a necessary destination for democratic demands.

Furthermore, Statehouse is already a site of high-level political activity. It is where the president welcomes foreign diplomats and receives credentials from ambassadors. It is where visiting heads of state are hosted and where county governors, Members of Parliament, and grassroots delegations are regularly welcomed to discuss policy, development, and political partnerships. The symbolism is clear: Statehouse is the people’s house, in service to the Republic. If it can accommodate foreign dignitaries and elite delegations, it must also open its gates to the peaceful cries of its own citizens.

The tradition of presenting petitions to centers of power is not new. In democratic societies, citizens march to parliaments, courthouses, and executive mansions because these are the institutions that exercise real authority. As Kenyan protesters seek to hold the government accountable for matters such as taxation, corruption, or social injustice, marching to Statehouse is not an act of terrorism – it is a constitutional expression of political participation.

Political theorist Charles Tilly noted, “Contention is not a disturbance of politics; it is politics.” In this regard, protests and petitions delivered to Statehouse are not a threat to national stability but an affirmation of the people’s right to engage directly with power. If Statehouse refuses to accept such civic engagement, it delegitimizes its claim to national leadership.

Moreover, the constitution of Kenya guarantees the right to peacefully assemble, demonstrate, and present petitions to public authorities. Article 37 enshrines this right not only as a civic liberty but as a duty of democratic vigilance. To deny protesters the right to present petitions at Statehouse is to render the executive unaccountable and immune from the public’s moral voice.

In conclusion, Statehouse must not be guarded against the people – it must be opened to them. The logic is sound: if it is fit to host international dignitaries and political elites, then it must also be fit to receive the grievances of its citizens. In moments of national urgency, the most responsible act the executive can undertake is to meet the people – not in silence or repression, but in dialogue, humility, and action. The steps of Statehouse are not sacred – they are public. And it is time they echoed with the voices of the Republic.

4. Political Organizing Call

#SabaSaba GenZ March

The next organizing call revolves around #SabaSaba, the 7^th of July 2025. The demands of the march remain the same, that #RutoMustGo. The extension of #RutoMustGo remain the same, to #FagiaWote. In the end, the entire political class as currently constituted must exit the stage, this means Kindiki Must Go too, Raila must go too, Gachagua must go too, Matiangi Must go too, Kalonzo Must Go too, the whole school of Moi students must go. That is what a political revolution means, no one is spared.

Kenya’s martyrs did not die in vain. The painful tears of the mothers left behind, can and will only be wiped away with justice. Not the performative justice of press statements, but a justice that cuts so deep – that Kenya, its rogue political class, and its rotten state organs like the police will never be the same again.

Statehouse is a public building, it belongs to the people, not its temporary tenants. Its true Statehouse Nairobi and all state lodges are protected areas. They are protected from anyone that might wish the office of the president harm. However, the same principle that guides the protection of Kenya as a nation, from enemies within and enemies without, must also apply in protecting Statehouse from enemies without and from enemies within. Tomorrow, the enemy within statehouse must be routed out. Statehouse is a building, not a sovereign entity in our 2010 constitution, the Kenyan people are the only sovereigns.

GenZ do not need a lesson in mobilizing numbers, enough numbers to overthrow any dictator, even Ruto. In 2024, the street protests and our collective outrage brought the masses to the doors of parliament, and parliament fell. In June 2025, we must not re-occupy territories already won, we can’t send the same message to the president, through the same deaf Parliamentarians, and expect different result. The message ‘to go’ will be delivered directly to the despot. Revolutions do not tip over in favor of the masses through timid direct actions, or through mark timing on the same victory of yester years. The status quo must be dealt a blow, that no despot can recover, not even the butcher of Sugoi.

This is also not the time for wasted energies through vertical confrontations and violence, this is the time to work across differences for one common agenda, #RutoMustGo. There will be time enough to prosecute the traitors and collaborators alongside the head of the snake. The revolution will not spare anyone, the truth is not a respecter of persons, nor does the internet forget. For now, we must #Fagiawote, beginning with emptying statehouse of its enemy within, then the rest. For the energy wasted on fighting a fellow oppressed Kenyan, though differently oppressed, can be saved up for jumping over Statehouse fence, to confront the enemy at the top of our common vertical struggle

Fear not comrades, the constitution is clear, Kenyans are guaranteed (not optional) rights and fundamental freedoms. All sovereign power belongs to the people, the people shall or may exercise that sovereign power directly or indirectly. The constitution is also very clear, what is to be done when a president goes mad and starts abducting, torturing and killing children. Kenya’s 2010 constitution is very precise, on what must be done in the case of mental incapacitation of the president, and fair elections under the hands of a mad man is no longer guaranteed, as the constitution promises.

This is the time for organized collectives (where two or three are gathered) to offer their services to the revolution, to go beyond their primary political interest, for a unified assault. What can your organized collective do to make tomorrow a success, is it your presence in the streets, medical emergency camps, legal aid, software deployment, your choice. The harvest is ready but the workers are few.

Signed,

Kongamano La Mapinduzi

23 June 2025, Nairobi – On this first anniversary month of the June 25th massacre of peacefully protesting youth by the state, Ukweli Party (UP) and Kongamano la Mapinduzi (KLM) jointly issue this statement to declare, without fear of contradiction, that the Ruto-Kindiki-UDA-Kenya Kwanza administration is a mortal danger to all of us, the people of Kenya.

We recall that in the wake of the GenZ-led #RejectFinanceBill2024 countrywide peaceful protests, president William Ruto choose tyranny, abductions and enforced disappearances, torture, murder, everyday intimidation and brutality as his administration’s official response to Kenyans’ legitimate demands for accountable governance and an end to state corruption and looting of public wealth.

It is in the public knowledge that president Ruto’s criminal response to Kenyans exercising the constitutional rights to freedom of expression, including through peaceful protest led to the extrajudicial killing of more than 60 protestors; enforced disappearance of at least 82 persons; the arbitrary arrest of 1,208 people and at least 132 cases of people who are still missing since the June 2024 protests. The bodies of some of those reported missing have been found dumped in rivers, abandoned quarries, mortuaries, and roadsides showing signs of torture – others mutilated and dismembered. Ukweli Party and Kongamano la Mapinduzi believe that these numbers could be higher given the impunity with which authorities have responded to their own unlawful activities.

This week we call on the sovereign people of Kenya to remember that these are not just numbers. Our compatriots were murdered. Some are still missing and unaccounted for. Families continue to mourn without hope for justice; and our nation bleeds as the Ruto-Kindiki presidency continues to normalize state crimes and impunity. President Ruto deployed snipers who shot unarmed and peaceful protestors. Security forces in uniform and others in plainclothes – some of who concealed their identities by wearing facemasks, balaclavas and tactical scarfs whilst moving in unmarked cars – shot live ammunition directly at protestors, emergency medical teams and even journalists.

It is in the public knowledge that the hunt for the young Kenyans who showed up for Kenya last year never stopped. Just last week, during peaceful protests to demand justice for Albert Ojwang, we witnessed on the streets of Nairobi the deployment of gangs armed by the state to suppress our constitutionally protected rights to peaceful protest and assembly. We saw officers of the Kenya Police Service working alongside, and protecting the goons as they violently attacked, robbed and harmed both protestors and passersby. We all know that the public officers involved in these acts of criminality cannot have acted without a Ruto-Kindiki approval.

That is why no one has been summoned or questioned by the now-severely discredited and partisan investigative agencies. Since last year, Ukweli Party and Kongamano La Mapinduzi have consistently joined forces with other patriotic Kenyans to demand full and expeditious accountability for the crimes committed by the Ruto administration in the context of the unlawful crackdown that has gone on since June last year. We knew then and know now that a presidency gone rogue cannot investigate itself – let alone hold itself accountable for its crimes.

Ukweli Party and Kongamano La Mapinduzi wish to state clearly that our country’s descent into governance by crime – and the abdication of governance under the Constitution and the rule of law – is not accidental. From the patterns we have observed since June 2024 until last week’s state response to peaceful protestors, we have legitimate concern that president William Ruto is priming the country for political violence and mayhem as a decoy for creating conditions where the next general elections are impossible. We believe that president Ruto is actively instigating a climate of civil strife to set the stage for the delay of the 2027 elections and therefore extend his first term to whatever lengths the cabal in power would wish. Ruto is actively setting our country onto a trajectory we might not survive or recover from if we allow him to continue.

During the deployment of anti-riot police and protected goons on the streets of Nairobi last week, many protesters witnessed the use of guns not known to be designated for members of the Kenya Police Service – including hunting shotguns and old muskets that we have never before seen in use by our security forces. From our witness on the streets and review of images appearing in news reports, these guns were in the hands of individuals whose dressing differed from the anti-riot police in their company. These individuals appeared trigger-happy, exuberant and violent even in the absence of provocation compared to those who we believe were legitimate police officers deployed on the streets. The guns that these individuals hold can not be traced back to the police force after ballistic analysis or investigations that occur after shootings, creating room for plausible deniability. Kenyans will recall that during the June 25
massacre last year, there appeared strange deployments on the streets of armed men not fitting the profile of our security forces.

We fear that there might be a third armed force – a militia recruited, armed and forcefully embedded alongside the Kenya Police and other security services to do the political bidding of president William Ruto and the cabal that is helping him repurpose the Government of Kenya and state system into a criminal enterprise.

Ukweli Party and Kongamano la Mapinduzi wish to remind Ruto and all his accomplices that when we, the sovereign people of Kenya created our Presidency as elaborately defined in our 2010 Constitution, we did not create a job for serial killers whose activities we fund from our taxes. We hoped for the presidency to be the clearest and brightest reflection of the nation we set out to become: one that is at peace with itself, one that is governed by the rule of law under our Constitution, and one where justice is the shield and defender of all sovereign citizens. The Presidency that we created for ourselves – not for politicians – is about service to the nation: not murder of the nation.

The Ruto-Kindiki presidency has failed on all counts of what we, the people, created that office for – and our collective expectations of those who should exercise its delegated authority. A failed presidency should be terminated and that is our call to the people of Kenya. We must bring to an end the criminality and national destruction that this presidency has orchestrated and continues to implement as we watch.

Our organizations and movements, Ukweli Party and Kongamano la Mapinduzi, today declare unequivocally that no accountability and justice for victims of state crimes is possible under a Ruto-Kindiki presidency. We remind the nation that while Ruto perfected his criminality over the last year – including through fake apologies and lies about accountability, more and more Kenyans continue to be killed by the state. Albert Ojwang, who was brutally killed early this month, is just one of the most recent cases. We must remember that before Albert Ojwang, there were the killings of Rex Maasai, Denzel Omondi, Austin Makokha, Eric Shieni, Evans Kiratu, Ryan Mwendwa, Beasley Kogi, among many others who were martyred by the state.

What then happens when those at the helm of the State and Government of Kenya are suspects and no longer defenders of our Constitution and the rule of law that they publicly swore by oath to uphold? Ukweli Party and Kongamano la Mapinduzi call on all Kenyans to stand in one accord to stop our country’s descent into the mayhem and lawlessness that the Ruto-Kindiki presidency is actively orchestrating. It is now clear that Ruto and Kindiki’s political playbook is colored with armed political thugs who will continue misusing our intelligence, law enforcement and military agencies for their political survival. This presidency and the entire UDA-Kenya Kwanza administration have lost all legitimacy and credibility to continue governing the people.

To stop further destruction of our homeland, to restore our sovereignty and power to govern ourselves justly in accordance with our progressive Constitution and the rule of law; and to revert our institutions of governance into competent, independent and accountable public services for the people of Kenya, Ukweli Party and Kongamano la Mapinduzi demand the following:

• Full disclosure by the Inspector General of Police of what exactly happened on June 25
  2024 and after in relation to who gave the orders leading to the extrajudicial killing of peaceful protestors; the abduction, disappearances, torture, and murder of protestors and online critics of government policies; and if there are armed political militia groups entertained within official police deployments. In addition to ongoing murder cases and ongoing inquests, we demand that judicial inquests must be started for all those killed in the June 2024 protests.
• A parliamentary inquest to look into the conduct of the Ruto-Kindiki presidency so as to establish if their response to the June 2024 protests and subsequent crackdown on government critics and protestors violated the Constitution of Kenya and hold them to full account in accordance with the Constitutional mandate of the National Assembly and Senate as prescribed under Articles 95, 96 and 145 of the Constitution of Kenya. Ukweli Party and Kongamano la Mapinduzi fully know the integrity and credibility deficits of the National Assembly and Senate but we make this demand because they are well paid employees of Kenyans and the Constitution grants them responsibility to hold the Executive to account on behalf of the people of Kenya. They have no choice but to change their ways and represent the people as required;
• Above all, the resignation of the Ruto-Kindiki presidency in the public interest for serial unconstitutional, unlawful and criminal conduct as we have highlighted in this statement.

Finally, we ask Kenyans to join the families of those we lost to criminal state violence during and after the #RejectFinanceBill2024 last year – in Nairobi and across the country as they present their demands for justice to public officials. We will be marching alongside you, for Ukweli Party and Kongamano la Mapinduzi are part of our forward march into a new Kenyan history of freedom, dignity, social justice and peace for ALL.

We welcome all Kenyans who share this determination, hopes and dreams for Kenya to join our just and righteous struggle that seeks to create a new Kenya that accords peace, justice and dignity to all. Defeating the anti-people Ruto-Kindiki administration is a first crucial mission for all of us: they cannot maim and kill us, and lead us.

*end of statement*
Note to Editors: For further engagement, contact Sungu Oyoo, National Spokesperson of
Kongamano La Mapinduzi – KLM (0724917875) & Nduko O’Matigere, the National
Chairperson/Party Leader of Ukweli Party (0720131574)

une 12 2025, Nairobi – We thank all Comrades, and especially members of the media fraternity for attending this press conference that is of utmost importance to the nation.

This press conference has been called by Kongamano la Mapinduzi. Kongamano la Mapinduzi is  a coalition of diverse Kenyan individuals, organizations, initiatives and movements, generally identifiable as progressive within struggles for civil, political, social, cultural, economic and ecological justice and freedoms.

Kongamano la Mapinduzi has called for today’s press conference to enable us address two important issues that have captured the national attention at this particular moment – the brutal murder of Albert Ojwang, and the 2025/2026 budget.

Murder of Albert Ojwang

Kongamano la Mapinduzi called for a press briefing on Monday, 9th June 2025, at the Nairobi Funeral Home (formerly City Mortuary) to not only condemn the killing of Albert Ojwang, but to also demand for justice and accountability for the more than 60 Kenyans who we have lost since last year. Albert, who was arrested by six police officers in Migori last weekend, was driven for over 350 kilometres to Nairobi, tortured, then detained at Central Police Station where he was killed.

The Inspector General of Police, Douglass Kanja, told the nation on Monday (9th June) that Albert Ojwang had died from self-inflicted injuries that he sustained after smashing his head against a wall while under police custody. The whole nation is aware of the post-mortem results that were released on Tuesday afternoon – results which indicate that Albert died not only from blunt force trauma to the head, but also from strangulation and other injuries inflicted on him  by his abductors. The signs outlined in the pathologists report are consistent with torture.

Albert died a painful death. He died an excruciating death. He died a death that no human being deserves. Albert was a vibrant teacher. He was a young Kenyan with a young family. Albert Ojwang was full of dreams for the future. These dreams have been cut short through state violence. Albert is no more.

Baddies, we are dying in hospitals because they do not have enough medicine. Baddies, we are dying because of lack of knowledge, for our schools are both understaffed and under-equipped to prepare our generation for life in the 21st Century. And the system again wants us to die from its bullets? No!! We are tired of dying!!

KLM extends its deepest condolences to the family of Albert Ojwang. We cannot even pretend to imagine the pain they feel. All we can state is that it is a reflection of the pain of thousands of families across the country who have lost their loved ones to such senseless acts of violence – whether sanctioned by the state, or other powerful internal and external forces.

We welcome the investigative processes set up by Parliament and IPOA, but concurrently warn them that Kenyans are waiting for justice to be served. These two institutions should, and must not allow their investigative or oversight processes to be abused or used to cover up the murder of Albert Ojwang.

Kongamano la Mapinduzi demands the following:

1. An end to extra-judicial killings in our country. According to a report by Missing Voices, the continued weaponisation of the police and other security agencies against the people of Kenya resulted in at least 104 police-related killings, and 55 enforced disappearances in 2024 alone. We insist that the police should be a source of security, not insecurity.
2. An immediate and independent inquiry or investigation to establish who killed Albert Ojwang’. This process should involve the arrest and prosecution of all who were involved in Albert Ojwang’s arrest, interrogation and murder, including those they were reporting to, or receiving orders from, as relates to this particular matter.
3. The resignation of Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat who was the complainant in this particular issue, and who is clearly a person of interest in the murder case. We further demand the resignation of the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, for feeding the nation false information – presumably with the intention of covering–up the murder of Albert Ojwang. It is not enough to fire a few junior officers, while letting the big boys go scot-free. That is a shallow action that does not impress us! We are tired of your performative actions.

Justice must be served!

2025/2026 Budget: They are Budgeting to Kill us.

The 2025/2026 budget will be read before Parliament this afternoon. This budget comes at a time when most Kenyans are already overburdened by a high cost of living and high taxes, and are again forced to dig even deeper into their pockets to access ‘so-called’ public services such as healthcare and education.

Kenyans have, for the longest time, been appealing for the institution of progressive budget mechanisms that are pro-people. They have instead received tax-heavy and service-deficient budget mechanisms. Kongamano la Mapinduzi notes that the national budget as currently structured – and especially when read in conjunction with the Finance Bill and Appropriations Bill – is a criminal enterprise that benefits only a few individuals and corporations.

The 2025 Finance Bill, which is set to be presented before Parliament in a few days, is antipeople. Why is it anti-people? It is anti-people because it scraps VAT exemptions on essential commodities, including farm inputs. The scrapping of these VAT exemptions will increase the cost of production for farmers, and is likely to translate to higher food prices for the larger majority. it proposes a 5% agriculture tax on tea, coffee and avocado sales, which will additionally eat into the earnings of small-holder farmers who are already burdened by the new taxes on farm inputs – and only serves to further reduce disposable income at the household level.

The 2025 Finance Bill also increases the fuel levy – a move that will not only increase the cost of fuel but also resultantly effect an increase in the cost of electricity, manufacturing and transport. The bill further proposes 15% taxes on internet costs, and a neonatal tax – which is a tax on new born babies. Yes, Kenyans will now be taxed for giving birth. That is the blatant madness that we are everyday forced to confront.

Of fundamental concern to Kongamano la Mapinduzi is the fact that this increase in taxes has been accompanied by budget cuts in allocations toward social services like healthcare and education. The executive, meanwhile, continues to display an insatiable appetite for opulence and unnecessary spending – as evidenced by the recent renovations at State House, purchase of fuel guzzlers, inflated travel costs, among other unnecessary expenditures – all this despite the country facing a huge budget deficit of around 1 trillion shillings.

The police drove Albert Ojwang for over 300 kilometres to kill him. Baddies, this government is taxing us, then wastefully using our taxes to kill us. Dear baddies, the only difference between this 2025/2026 budget and a hangman’s noise is that one is made of sisal. Both can kill.

KLM takes this earliest opportunity to remind the broad-based government that it must live within its means. You cannot increase taxes on already-overtaxed Kenyans so as to finance your extravagant and opulent lifestyles – or to kill us.

At this particular moment, Parliament as an institution should be asserting its authority in defense of the people. Our Parliament is however, captured by the executive, and unable to effectively play its oversight and representative roles, or to simply stand up for what is right.

Earlier this week, the Budget and Appropriations Committee tabled final budget estimates for 2025/2026 before Parliament. These estimates recommended an increase in allocation of 150 million for the DCI to procure a system to track social media users. In total, the National Police Service budget could rise by 1.8 billion. They are budgeting to kill us.

The committee also reduced the allocation to the National Fund for the Disabled by 400 million. Allocation to the Teachers Service Commission has reduced by 570 million, with resources dedicated to the capacity building of teachers slashed by 620 million. Allocation to university education has been slashed by 920 million, secondary education slashed by 4 billion, and primary education slashed by 405 million. This is utter nonsense.

In light of the above, Kongamano la Mapinduzi rejects the 2025/2026 budget in its entirety -even before it is read this afternoon.

Way forward

Kongamano la Mapinduzi is aware that millions of Kenyans are concerned about recent national events and political occurrences at this particular moment, and that they are taking action in different shapes and forms. We are aware that there are a number of peaceful marches planned by baddies from across the country over the next few days.

We wish to bring two of these to public attention:

• There will be peaceful groups delivering a petition to the Central Police Station in Nairobi and to the office of the Inspector General of Police this afternoon regarding the murder of Albert Ojwang. We ask the police to accord respect to these just and righteous people-led processes by not starting violence.
• On Friday 13th June, the mother’s and families of those who we have lost since June last year will deliver a notice of protest to Central Police Station in Nairobi. We again ask the National Police Service to accord respect to this peaceful process, and facilitate where necessary.

Lastly,

Dear baddies, we have noticed an increase in the number of plain-clothed police officers and criminal elements who are infiltrating marches and protests with the intention of creating confusion, mayhem, and violence. We ask that all police come in uniform, and wish to emphasise that anything without uniform shall be treated as part of the criminal elements and networks that seek to delegitimise our just and righteous struggle for a better Kenya.

All power to the people!

Signed,

KLM Central Committee

Rose Njeri is not a criminal. She is a respected member of Kenya’s tech ecosystem and a courageous voice in the fight for justice, equality, and good governance. She stood with millions of GenZ in the historic 2024 street protests against the punitive Finance Bill, an uprising that exposed the moral bankruptcy of this regime. Her arrest is politically motivated, intended to silence those who dare to speak truth to power.

Comrade Rose Njeri was accosted and taken by an entourage of approximately 15 armed police officers along Enterprise Road after attending a training with a tech incubator. No reasons were given for her arrest, no charges read, violating Article 49 of Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, which guarantees arrested persons the right to be informed promptly of the reason for their arrest.

In a traumatizing show of force, the police coerced her into leading them to her residence, where they illegally gained access to her home and seized personal gadgets – laptops, flash disks, and more. No court order or search warrant was presented. This was a blatant breach of Rose’s constitutional protections under Article 31 (right to privacy) and Article 50 (right to fair trial).

She was then driven around Nairobi for hours before being taken to DCI Headquarters, where she was interrogated by three officers (Zainab, Mustafa, and an unnamed third officer) without access to legal representation. She was forced to record a statement, despite explicitly asking for her lawyer, a violation of both constitutional and international human rights law.

During the interrogation, officers questioned her about her involvement in two digital platforms:
civicemail.netlify.app
  Ruto Filter Chrome Extension

This points to a state-sponsored campaign to intimidate civic-tech developers who are empowering citizens to think critically and organize against repression.

As of this statement, Comrade Rose Njeri remains unlawfully detained at Pangani Police Station, held past the constitutional limit of 24 hours without being presented in court.

The police have refused to grant her bail, provide full access to legal counsel, or offer any justification for her continued detention without trial. This arrest is not isolated. It is emblematic of the political rot and instability at the heart of the Ruto regime. It signals the total collapse of legitimacy and the rise of an increasingly violent police state.

Let it be known, that the arrest of Comrade Rose Njeri might as well be the spark that will reignite the GenZ movement. The same GenZs who flooded the streets in 2024, must prepare to reclaim our streets once more, in mobilizing around #RejectFinanceBill2025. Her detention comes at the eve of the month of the 2024 occupation of Parliament. Let this year’s resistance go further and deeper, perhaps this time, the House itself might be a better challenge.

Her arrest is a call to all justice and human rights civil society organizations: remove the kid gloves. Match the energy and courage of the Law Society of Kenya. We salute LSK and urge others to follow suit. It is a call to veteran activists, student leaders, grassroots organizers, and trade unionists, this is your moment to take up your positions. It is a call to Kenya’s tech community, if you remain quiet while one of your own is kidnapped and interrogated for building civic tools, you embolden them for your own persecution. Kenya’s famed Silicon Savannah is under siege by a despot.

We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Rose Njeri.

We demand accountability from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the National Police Service, and the office of the Inspector General.

We remind the Ruto regime that no dictatorship has outlived the resistance of a determined people.

Issued by:
Kongamano La Mapinduzi (KLM)

#FreeRoseNjeri | #MapiduziKE | #BungeMustGo | #GenZRevolution

1. Monthly Commentaries
2. Current Issue Political Analysis
3. Historical Issue Political Analysis
4. May Organizing Call

1. May Commentaries

#AtwoliRetire

Nothing beats organic, citizen led, people’s initiatives. The 2025 Finance Bill App ‘civicemail.netlify.app’ created by Rose Njeri, and the campaign #AtwoliRetire ignited by Comrade Hanifa Farsafi, are an excellent demonstration of the ‘exercising’ of sovereign power of the Kenyan people, that is guaranteed in the Kenyan constitution. Such citizen-led direct intervention against the endemic and systemic rot in Kenya’s public institutions and processes, and that centers the mobilization of the masses for collective action, is what Kenya needs. This type of resistance is what has shaped the evolving history of our struggle against Kenya’s neo-colonial regimes and puppets. Such strategic offensives as #AtwoliRetire offers a space to analyze Atwoli’s shameless opulence, his type of trade union leadership against the heart rending sacrifices of such trade unionists as Comrade Makhan Singh, that Kenya has produced.

Government Seal

There are criminals in Kamiti Prison for forging signatures or impersonating public officials. For their crimes, they are punished with incarceration, they are deemed unfit to be left roaming around, taking the names or identities of others at will. Imagine if you could be anything and everything, is that kind of power even good for a sane human being? Now, petty criminals who could not bribe the arresting officer (or the investigating officer, or the judge) aside, what do we do with a psychopath that impersonates the whole nation? It would be a crime to send such a criminal to exist in the comfort of human connection, among other criminals whose only crime is impersonating an individual or an organization. When you, by force, ‘obtain’ the government seal, and hold it hostage at Statehouse, you become god. And impish gods have the same ending.

Forest Land

The Kenya Land Freedom Army did not wage war against the British, so that land ownership could be the preserve of Ruto and his friends. When the white man came, land was sacred. All the spaces that the white man put up his churches and his homes were freely given by the natives. Land was not something to be transactional about, it was a human necessity like food, and so it was collectively owned and shared. Just because a stretch of land looks like a forest, doesn’t mean it has no owners, or that by being idle forest land, it is a waste of money. Forest land is not about capital; it’s about the humans who interact with it. You can not cut off the little (almost negligible) remaining forest and build hotels to make money with them. There are plenty of good ideas to make money that should not involve cutting a single tree, disturbing virgin ecosystems. Even if it were the pope and all the saints combined who wanted Kenya’s virgin forests, the answer would still no. How much less, surrendering it to a criminal. Anyways, what of the vibrations of the forest?

Affordable Housing

Ruto’s affordable housing scheme is a scam. You can not purport to build houses for people that do not exist. Without a register of slum residents, how is the Ruto housing scheme going to guarantee that only residents of Mukuru or Mathare slum occupy the houses after completion? Some of the houses were recently completed in Mukuru slum, the beneficiaries were all rogue businessmen, who want nothing to do with a bedsitter home other than speculation. The woman chosen to represent Mukuru slum residents receiving the affordable housing units, was none other than the women who received rural electrification in rural Kenya, a serial photographed beneficiary of all Ruto’s projects. This was not carelessness on the part of the despots PR, it was simply a signal to the monied and unscrupulous, that bids are now open for the corrupt acquisition of the houses meant for Kenya’s impoverished citizens. The only remedy for the affordable housing mess is ‘occupation without compensation’, the slum residents marching and taking what is theirs, what was built with taxes.

#NationalPreyingDay

That the hyenas would gather to pray, before their meal of an innocent lamb, is not as natural as hyenas gathering to prey on a weak lamb. There is no mercy in the hunt, when the hunter is as organized and as ruthless as Ruto, and the victims are as the GenZ movement is at the moment. There is nothing sacred in the hands of a despotic regime, there is no heritage worth preserving, when a regime is stuck on auto-collect. Not the most populous religion or the most sacred of places of worship, that hasn’t been desecrated by the same hands that are abducting, torturing and killing Kenyan children. So, a little show of piety in front of cameras, complete with a grifting preacher is a small sin to them. For the whole mafioso ruling class with matching clownery, sacrilege is the smallest of insolence that Ruto and his ilk allow themselves to exhibit. It can not go without observing that any religious institution associating with Ruto is criminal. Any church offering a platform to Rutos regime is complicit in the abduction, torture and killing of children.

Africa Liberation Day

Comrade Ngugi wa Thiong’o, may he rest in power, warned us of the dangers of not decolonizing our minds. After centuries of slavery, colonization and neo-colonization, the struggle for the total liberation of the black man and the oppressed of the world, continues. The resistance comes natural, it is the organization and coordination of this resistance that we must remain vigilant about. This year Africa Liberation Day organized by grassroots organizations and left leaning political movements offers a signpost of where we have been as a continent, and where we can go, if we dared to imagine. This year’s African Liberation Day comes in the wake of the revolutionary spirit being fanned in the Sahel region of Africa, a sign of what is possible, a call to action for all revolutionaries across Africa and diaspora. The Pan-African offensive against neo-colonial and imperialist forces remains the most promising roadmap, to the total liberation of the African continent, and its people and resources.

2. Current Political Analysis

A Region Betrayed: Condemning the Abduction and Torture of Kenyan and Ugandan Activists by Tanzanian Authorities

In a chilling reminder of how far East Africa has descended into tyranny, two activists – Agather Atuhaire and Boniface Mwangi, were recently abducted and tortured by Tanzanian authorities. These comrades had lawfully crossed into Tanzania to observe a court proceeding, standing in solidarity with a fellow activist and opposition leader Tundu Lissu, whose voice has long rattled the foundations of the repressive Tanzania regime. Their presence was peaceful, legal, and grounded in the historic spirit of regional solidarity, Jumuiya.

This moment marks a devastating turn for East Africa. It is Tanzania, after all, that once opened its borders to Kenyan freedom fighters fleeing Moi’s dictatorship. It is Tanzania that once hosted liberation movements and stood firmly against oppression. That such a nation has become the site of cross-border political persecution is a betrayal of its own revolutionary past. A betrayal of Comrade Julius Nyerere.

But this is not an isolated event. It is the latest chapter in a grim regional pattern. In Kenya, 2024 saw the abduction, torture, and even murder of GenZ protesters, for simply demanding justice and good governance. Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was unlawfully abducted from Kenyan soil and rendered back to Uganda, where he now languishes under the weight of a kangaroo court. And now, activists who dared to witness another Kangaroo court session are subjected to torture chambers in Tanzania.

These are not coincidences. They are evidence of a total collapse of the rule of law and the systematic erosion of human rights across East Africa. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are degenerating into full-blown fascist states, where the presidents rule not with consent, but through fear, surveillance, and violent suppression.

This collapse is not purely domestic, it is backed and funded by global neo-colonial interests. The United States, in its hunger for extractive rights and regional military outposts, continues to prop up dictators like Museveni, Suluhu, and Ruto. For imperial powers, loyalty in resource access and military cooperation outweigh the lives, rights, and aspirations of African citizens.

These presidents have not only abandoned the people—they have betrayed the Pan-African dream. The spirit of Nyerere has been replaced with the paranoia of the police state. The courage of the Mau Mau and the Haitian revolutionaries has been buried under debt traps and foreign-led development that benefits only the comprador. Instead of building on the foundation laid by the likes of Amilcar Cabral, Patrice Lumumba, Steve Biko, and Kwame Nkrumah, our so-called leaders now trample on it.

We must not sit idle. Now more than ever, we must integrate political education into every corner of our lives, from our schools to our social media routine, from our churches to our marketplaces. We must rebuild communities of resistance, ones rooted in truth, solidarity, and revolutionary purpose.

Let the abduction of our comrades be a wake-up call. Let it radicalize our commitment. Let it remind us that freedom is not granted by presidents, it is taken by the people. And until every East African citizen can walk freely, speak boldly, and organize without fear, our work is not done. Grassroots political movements like Kongamano La Mapinduzi offer a roadmap that is radical, Pan-African, and people-centered.

Power to the people. Long live Pan-African solidarity.

3. Historical Political Analysis

The Tyranny of Violence: How Despotic Regimes Sustain Power Through Coercion

Violence, as a means of political control, has been a recurrent theme in history. Political thinkers like Hannah Arendt have deeply examined its nature and function. In her seminal work, On Violence, Arendt argued that violence, while instrumental and effective in achieving immediate objectives, lacks the capacity to create legitimacy. “Power and violence are opposites,” she wrote, emphasizing that while power stems from collective agreement and legitimacy, violence signals the absence of consent and the fragility of authority.

Other thinkers, such as Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth, observed violence from the perspective of the colonized, seeing it as both a tool of oppression and a potential means of reclaiming autonomy. Through these lenses, it becomes evident that violence, when employed by dictatorial regimes, is a double-edged sword: a tool for control, yet a symptom of underlying instability.

The Political Reasoning Behind Violence

Dictatorial regimes often rely on violence to silence dissent, deter opposition, and project an image of unchallengeable authority. The political reasoning behind this is clear: fear is an efficient suppressor of resistance. By eliminating dissidents or intimidating masses, regimes can maintain a façade of order and compliance. Political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli’s advice in The Prince reflects this logic: “It is much safer to be feared than loved.”

In the short term, violence can be remarkably effective. Mass arrests, extrajudicial killings, and state-sponsored terror create an atmosphere of dread that inhibits organized resistance. However, in the long term, violence erodes the social fabric and undermines the regime’s legitimacy. The historian Timothy Snyder, in On Tyranny, asserts that violent regimes often sow the seeds of their own downfall by fostering resentment and resistance among the oppressed.

Impact on Democracy and Institutions

The use of violence as a political tool directly threatens democracy and its institutions. Democratic systems are built on the principles of dialogue, rule of law, and the protection of civil liberties. When violence becomes a method of governance, it corrodes these foundations. Institutions designed to safeguard democracy, such as independent judiciaries and free media, are often the first to be targeted.

For example, during Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in Chile, systematic violence and suppression dismantled democratic structures, leaving a legacy of fear and weakened institutions that took decades to rebuild. Similarly, in modern authoritarian regimes, the use of violence has often coincided with the subversion of electoral systems, the curtailment of freedoms, and the dissolution of checks and balances..

Psychological and Emotional Impact

The psychological consequences of political violence are profound, both for the individual and the collective. At an individual level, citizens often experience fear, anxiety, and trauma. The pervasive sense of insecurity undermines trust in both the state and one another, leading to a fragmented and disempowered populace.

On a collective level, violence can instill a culture of silence and complicity. Over time, societal norms may shift to accommodate the presence of violence, creating an environment where dissent is stigmatized or perceived as futile. This phenomenon was evident during Stalin’s purges in the Soviet Union, where fear permeated every layer of society, forcing individuals into compliance or complicity.

Renowned psychologist Judith Herman, in her work on trauma, highlights how systemic violence affects not only the victims but also the perpetrators and bystanders, leading to cycles of dehumanization and mistrust. The collective trauma can linger for generations, impeding societal healing and progress.

Overcoming the Monopoly on Violence

Despite its grip, history has shown that even the most violent regimes can be overcome. Nonviolent resistance, as championed by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., has been a powerful counterforce to oppressive regimes. Gandhi’s strategy of satyagraha (truth force) demonstrated how organized, nonviolent civil disobedience could undermine the moral and political foundations of colonial rule in India.

Similarly, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States achieved significant milestones by leveraging nonviolent protests, boycotts, and legal challenges. These movements underscore the potential of collective action, moral authority, and international solidarity to confront and dismantle regimes that rely on violence.

Another method has been the strategic use of international pressure. Diplomatic isolation and global advocacy have often constrained violent regimes.

4. Political Organizing

June 25th 2025 – This will be the beginning of daily protests until Ruto steps down. “you can’t kill us and lead us”. Period. #RutoMustGo

I first attended ALD in the year 2013 here at the Kenya National Theatre at the invitation of a comrade. At this ALD, I met many familiar faces. I met Ruth Mumbi, Gacheke Gachichi, Juliet Wanjira, Kimanzi, Garang’ Mzalendo,  McOlonde, And Grandmaster masseuse – rest in power!. All ever familiar faces – Nuki Githethwa’s wisdom was prominent – as was Fahamu and other progressive organisations.

This journey at this particular ALD would enable my generation to witness the growth of PAM-KE. I connected with the revolutionaries, communists, pan-Africanists, and a powder-keg of liberals and anarchists. We witnessed the growth of the Pan African movement Kenya under the growth of McOlonde. This decade enabled me to see the birth of Africans Rising, a Pan-African movement for justice, peace, unity and dignity.  At a certain point of arrival, these collective organising enabled me to meet a comrade, Alieu Bah, with whom I would co-found Mwamko.

That we have been able to come back here every year is no small achievement. It is a sign of persistence and consistency. It is a sign that our organising efforts continue to bear fruit, for we are not just witnesses of history, but active participants in its creation. Active participants in the struggle for new worlds – worlds of joy, love, laughter, and dignity. We are part of the forward march of our people.

Us/Rememberance:

5^th Pan African Congress…. 3 questions

Who are our friends?

Who are our enemies?

What must be done?

The First Conference of Independent African states held in April 1958 in Accra, Ghana, called for the founding of an African Freedom Day to “mark each year the onward progress of the liberation movement, and to symbolise the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation”. The years that followed provided a glimmer of hope in a sea hitherto marked by the dark forces of slavery and colonialism, those brutal systems that were used to subjugate and extract from the periphery to fatten the centre. With the colonial state now in retreat, representatives of thirty independent African states met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 22nd May 1963 for a meeting that culminated on 25th May with the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). That meeting also resolved to rename Africa Freedom Day to African Liberation Day, which has since then been commemorated annually on the African continent and its diaspora.

Restitution:

We are today commemorating the 62^nd African Liberation Day under the theme Revolutionary Pan-African Unity: the battle for socialism against capitalism and imperialism.

But this year’s commemoration comes at a time of great pain – a time of untold war, genocide, and mass suffering across the globe.

Unbridled capitalism is killing our planet. In addition to fuelling colonial patterns of economics and extraction, it has also immensely contributed to changing weather patterns and rendered whole farmlands unproductive. Forces that are both internal and external to Africa have ganged up to manufacture war in Sudan, Congo, and countless other places across the continent. The whole world has watched a genocide unfold right before their eyes in Palestine – the first genocide to be televised almost minute by minute.

In Kenya, our health system is in shambles, our education system is a mess – we are even now told that kids might not be able to sit national examinations because the money allocated to that cannot be traced. Our seeds have been commodified, and the levels of inequality continue to grow wider every day. Our young people were matyred on the streets of Nairobi in June of 2025 for simply asking for dignity.

But we must never give up. Geneologies of resistance and rebellion..

In the almost six decades that have passed since 1963, various moments and movements in our shared history as a people have given hope and added impetus to the original aspirations of Africa Liberation Day. Nkrumah reminded us that we (Africa) neither look East nor West, we look forward. Nyerere, dreaming of self-reliance, put Tanzania on the paths of Ujamaa, which CLR James, in that historical epoch, described as ‘something new coming out of Africa’. Cabral, viewing cultural resistance as an act of National Liberation, reminded us that culture is both a seed and a determinant of history. Today, like all days, is a day to affirm great figures like Dedan Kimathi, Thomas Sankara, Winnie Mandela, Joe Slovo, Garang’ De Mabior, Kinjeketile wa Ngwale, Cheikh Anta Diop, Queen Nzingha, Julius Malema and the countless heroes and heroines in our communities as both seeds and determinants of history. They remain an eternal inspiration to millions across the continent and its dispersed diaspora. In different epochs, the past becomes the present, and the present an illustration of what is to come.

On this 62nd ALD, we at Kongamano la Mapinduzi reiterate our position in support of the liberatory ideals and principles that undergirded the first generation of Pan Africanists. We affirm this, even as we understand our context today demands a newness in analysis, theorizing and practice.  We must not be stuck in dogma…  Moscow

The National Liberation Struggle is still unfinished until our collective organising efforts lead Africa and her people out of the realm of necessity, and onwards to then building the federal African socialist society under one government – and finally to become a sovereign, radiant and free people who will control the means and realization of production and reproduction – the land, the food, and their destiny.

We must organise! Garvey…

These acts of repression are a direct assault on democratic principles, regional solidarity, and the fundamental rights of African citizens to freedom of movement, expression, and political participation. It is deeply troubling that Tanzanian authorities have chosen to criminalize peaceful efforts to observe and support a fair judicial process, particularly one involving a prominent opposition leader.

These actions not only violate the principles of freedom of movement and expression but also undermine the spirit of regional cooperation enshrined in the East African Community (EAC) treaty.

Tundu Lissu’s arrest and treason charges represent a dangerous pattern of political intimidation aimed at silencing dissent in the lead-up to Tanzania’s general elections. The deportation of Kenyan human rights defenders who traveled in solidarity, meanwhile, exposes a growing intolerance toward cross-border unity and democratic cooperation within the East African region.

At a broader level, we wish to bring to your attention some recent related patterns of violence across the African continent. Earlier this month, the Gambian Government arrested the Banjul 20, including Comrade Alieu Bah, for simply asking that the list of Yayyah Jammeh’s frozen assets, which are largely proceeds of corruption, be made public. In Southern Africa, activists continue facing oppression – as recently highlighted by repeated attempts to evict homeless people who have occupied government buildings because they have nowhere else to go. These occupations come in the wake of assassinations of leaders of the Ahbalahi BaseMnjodolo movement (also known as the Shack Dwellers Movement), which stands for land occupation by all those who are unseen and unheard by unjust power. We will not even talk about Uganda today, for the facts are clearer than light – even the blind can see that the state of repression, torture and violence that Museveni’s regime has instituted in Uganda is beyond human capacity. There are more important issues for us to discuss today.

All this goes on as huge swathes of Africa, including Sudan and the DRC are engulfed in manufactured wars that consign our people to violence, rape, death, amongst other untold atrocities.

We take this opportunity to remind our Comrade brothers and sisters across the continent that nothing is permanent. That the people are the motive force of history. That the people’s resistance against oppression must be organized, for it shall eventually triumph against forces of repression.

As Kongamano la Mapinduzi, a pan-Africanist and people-driven movement committed to justice and transformation, we:

• Stand in full solidarity with Tundu Lissu and the people of Tanzania in their struggle for accountable governance structures and electoral justice. WE additionally stand in solidarity with Ugandan leader Comrade Kizza Besigye, and all those who are unfairly jailed for speaking truth to power across the African continent.
• Salute our Kenyan comrades who, despite repression, continue to extend solidarity and champion the cause of democracy across borders. We additionally salute all those who stand shoulder-to-shoulder, or who continue extending solidarity to oppressed people across the world.
• Demand the immediate release of all those detained for political reasons in Tanzania, Uganda, and other African Countries – and an end to the targeting of citizens and allies advocating for justice and reform.

Democracy thrives when systems of power are held accountable, divergent opinions are listened to, and fundamental human rights are protected. We urge all African people, and comrades around the world, to speak out against these injustices and support the people of Africa, whether home or abroad, in their pursuit of peaceful, just and dignified societies.

Signed

KLM Central Committee –