The future of relations between nations cannot continue to be built on imperialism. We call for an end to IMF subjugation of bankrupt nations

A disaster is unfolding in Kenya where the government is shooting at young protesters who took to the streets to push back against attempts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to extract rent for bankers at the expense of healthcare, education and basic cost of food.

The Kenyan economy has been crushed after four years of an IMF programme that has rolled back on social safety nets for the poor, increased cost of state services, increase in taxes and reduced incomes through statutory deductions while directing entire budgets to debts owed to Western banks.

Absurd attempts to extract even more money by imposing double taxes and a Marie-Antoinettesque tax on bread in the proposed 2024 Finance Bill has been resisted by the entire Kenyan society. Pushed through at the behest of the IMF, the World Bank, and the US State Department, the bill would impose severe austerity measures and crippling taxes on Kenya’s working people, who are already strained by the country’s legacy of colonial underdevelopment.

Instead of listening to the Kenyan people, the government, citing IMF demands for programme disbursements, barricaded parliament buildings with police and water cannons, and passed the tax with half of parliament affiliated to the ruling party.

Faced with unrelenting peaceful Gen Z protests by mostly teenagers, the government responded with bullets, killing 41 and injuring hundreds more.  In violation of Kenya’s constitution, the Ruto administration deployed the Kenyan Defence Force to the streets. Together with the police, they barricaded major roads and assaulted, gassed, and executed protesters in broad daylight.

To this date, the government continues to conduct clandestine state abductions of civilians for voicing dissent on social media, with some ending up missing or even dead.

By June 26, the government succumbed to pressure and withdrew the proposed Finance Bill. But the protesters are not backing down. The government has lost its people’s trust, especially in the continuation of IMF policy to find new ways of increasing taxes outside the Finance Bill, like with levies on fuel.

The Kenyan people are also demanding an end to clientelism to protect bankers’ interests at the expense of their own. They want dignified jobs and quality public services; they demand the reclaiming of stolen land and an end to the privatisation of public institutions and enterprises; and they demand that foreign institutions — from NATO to the IMF — cease interfering in Kenya’s sovereignty.

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’ neo-colonial designs for the long-suffering island. Kenya has also signed treaties with EU to act as black sites for Houthi rebels from America’s Operation Prosperity Guardian military operations.

DiEM25 stands firmly with the people of Kenya. They refuse to become another laboratory for neoliberalism — impoverished, beaten, or killed for the benefit of foreign corporations and their lackeys in the Kenyan government. A victory for the Kenyan people would mark a defeat for imperialism everywhere and a milestone in the struggle for African sovereignty.

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