THE Second Congress of the Communist Party of Kenya (CPK) was held on November 16-17, 2024 in Nairobi. 126 delegates from all the 47 counties in Kenya participated in the Congress, showcasing the presence of CPK all over the country. 54 messages were received from fraternal parties and organisations. The presence of CPI(M) in the Congress was highly appreciated.

The Congress is taking place immediately after the widespread Gen Z uprising that took shook the Kenyan political establishment. CPK played an important role in the protests and three of its comrades lost their lives in the police firing. An assessment of these protests, the way forward for the Party were thus part of the agenda of the Congress. Along with these, the Congress also adopted a new name, flag, emblem and updated its Programme and Constitution.

Communist movement in Kenya has a long history. It played an active role in the struggle against British colonial rule. Communists were active in organising the workers, forming trade unions and also supporting the peasant struggles. Indian origin Kenyans like Makhan Singh’s role is appreciated even today for his contributions in the anti-British colonial struggle. Of course, there was a section of Indians in Kenya who had allied with the British in exploiting the Kenyans. Nevertheless, the victory of Kenyan freedom struggle was possible because of the broad unity that was built by various progressive nationalist forces, along with the communists.

After independence, Kenya, as was the case with many newly independent countries pursued the path of capitalist development. The anti-colonial sentiments of the people were not respected and imperialist capital was allowed to stay in the country and continue its exploitation. The only concession the Kenyan ruling classes sought and gained to an extent was for their participation in capital accumulation and exploitation. Naturally, these developments failed to meet the aspirations of the Kenyan people as they continued to languish in poverty. Unemployment and hunger persisted. The unity that was built in the struggle for independence witnessed a fragmentation into various ethnic groups.

The ruling classes used the ethnic divisions to keep people apart and continue their exploitation. Several groups formed on the basis of ethnicity, instead of working towards building a broad united coalition and confront the ruling classes, concentrated on maintaining their separate identities and fighting. This fragmentation weakened the struggle and using the despondence of people, certain armed groups also started gathering forces. All these developments instead of helping the peoples’ struggles and mounting an insurmountable challenge to the ruling classes, failed to work for the resolution of peoples’ demands.

The political expression of such frustrations was found in the various changes in the government. The failure of all these parties due to their class affinities further alienated people from the political process. In this background, the current President William Ruto won the election on the plank of an outsider in politics and as one having no political dynastic background. He projected himself as a common man who sold chicken for a living. His campaign and rise in politics, resonates with the campaign run by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who too projected himself as a common man who rose by selling tea and without any political dynastic background.

Once gaining his foothold in politics, Ruto served in various capacities in different governments and became famous for the steady, but stupendous growth in his wealth. Ruto is a hardcore neoliberal, who moved his country close to the US. His policies advocated privatisation of government resources and selling off various national assets like ports, airports, electricity transmission etc. Ruto was responsible for Adani’s investments in electricity and also getting control of the Nairobi international airport. It is another matter that he is now forced to cancel all the deals signed with Adani after Adani’s indictment by a court in the US.

The reasons for the cancellation of Adani’s deals can be easily understood, once we realise how close he is to the US administration. Ruto was the one of the first heads of the government to join the failed US project of ‘Build Back Better’ a counter to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. He sent Kenyan troops to Haiti upon the directives of the US to contain popular protests there. Ruto also opened his country to US investments as never before and hence became a darling of the US. It is for these reasons that the US has declared Kenya as key non-NATO partner State.

People of Kenya were angered by the neoliberal policies pursued by Ruto and his political corruption. They rose in protest against the imposition of new taxes on the poor, while the rich were left untouched. The Kenyan police were directed to quell the protests using brute force and they resorted to firing on peaceful demonstrators. More than hundred protesters lost their lives in the police firing. Of them, 69 come from the same area called Githurai.

As repression failed to contain the protests, Ruto accepted to roll back the Finance Bill and certain other proposals that had infuriated people. He also made his entire cabinet resign and appointed new members to the government. All these failed to satisfy the people and there is still simmering anger among them against the government. They are particularly angry about the sale of national assets to foreign capital. It is in this context too that we have to locate Ruto’s decision to cancel all agreements reached with Adani.

ROLE OF CPK

In all these developments, the CPK played an important part. It was active among the slum-dwellers and students who were actively involved in the protests. Because of the large involvement of students and the youth, these protests were called the Gen Z protests. The leaders of CPK, majority of who are also young, gained acceptance among the protesters. The CPK cadre actively participated in the protests and were in the forefront facing policy brutality. Many of their leaders suffered injuries and were also detained by the police. As mentioned earlier, four comrades lost their lives and their sacrifice is well remembered.

The Congress of the CPK reviewed its experiences gained in the protests. The role it had played in building a broad coalition of various social movements and Left and progressive forces during the protest was appreciated. A reflection of the good-will the CPK enjoys among its coalition partners was evident during the Congress, where a large number of their representatives turned up during the inaugural session and delivered their messages of greetings.

The Congress discussed the recent split in the CPK, where two important leaders of the central committee were expelled from the Party. These leaders, branded as the ‘gang of two’, were expelled because of their attempts to strike a deal with the bourgeois ruling party and enter into an alliance with them. Majority of the party members opposed such a move and had voted against it. Unable to accept the decision of the majority in the party, these leaders tried to split the party. The consistent ideological campaign and discussion carried within the party ensured that majority of the party members were against the ‘gang of two’. The present Congress was convened after this split and in order to overcome the legal obstacles, the majority group was forced to choose a different name for themselves, as the minority succeeded in convincing the legal authorities and retained the original name of the party.

The Congress of the majority, thus were forced to choose a new name, which was unanimously accepted in the Congress. The CPK is now named, CPM-K – Communist Party Marxist, Kenya. Along with the change in the name, the Congress also adopted a new emblem and flag in order to differentiate from the splinter group. The Red Flag of the communist party remains, but with a minor change. The sickle and hammer are now in the middle of a star.

An intense rectification campaign was undertaken within the party to unite the majority behind the correct line and against the splitters. This had helped in ideologically equipping the party to deal with the split and also sharpened the consciousness of the cadre. The political interventions made by young comrades during the Congress established this fact.

The CPM-K characterises Kenya as a semi-feudal, bourgeois State, led by the comprador bourgeoisie. The ruling classes are compromising with imperialism. It considers the present stage of its revolution as National Peoples’ Democratic Revolution. The Party Congress decided to intensify its efforts to mobilise people in the path of the revolutionary transformation of the society.

The CPM-K also reconstituted its mass organisations. The Young Communist League is now transformed as the Revolutionary Youth League. A new women’s organisation is formed. Leadership for the Party and all these mass organisations were elected in the Congress. They have a separate bureau for Urban and Rural people and do not have separate organisations for the working class and the agricultural workers, peasants. They renamed their Party School as Pio Gama Pinto School for Party Education – Pio Gama is another communist of Indian origin who was assassinated by Kenyan government in 1965.

According to their Party Constitution, one-third of the members elected to any committee should be from the opposite gender and this was reflected in the composition of all the committees elected. This was possible because of the strong presence of the party among women, who were also elected as delegates to the Congress.

The Party Congress was very vibrant with songs and slogans interspersed in all the interventions and even when the Report was introduced. All the delegates, including their general secretary, chairperson and other leaders break into songs and join the dances. The youthful vibe of the Congress was also reflected in the music genre chosen – rap, reggae and hip-hop.

The last session of the Congress was a public manifestation. A progressive reggae festival was organised in Githurai, where hundreds of people participated. The newly elected leadership and the main decisions of the Congress were announced in this public gathering, bringing down the curtains on the 2nd Congress.