INTERVIEW: Shiraz Durrani interviewed on Information as a Tool of Liberation
Questions from Julian Jaravata. an MLIS student at San Jose State University taking a course in international librarianship. Interview date: 07-12- 2018. The interview took place in the context of Julian Jaravata’s research for his librarianship studies. However the...
Voting under Capitalism
Waweru In the coming months, Kenyan voters will head to the ballot boxes to vote for candidates of their choice. This is a ritual that Kenyans are used to, every five years. Since independence, the country has conducted numerous elections but, as in other capitalists’...
Ballot or the Bullet: Revolutionary Change by All
Means Necessary
Sobukwe Shukura is a member of The All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP) The All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP) had a slogan in the 70’s and the 80’s: “Smash the Democratic and Republican Party”. We have today a more appropriate line calling...
Left view on Elections
Ezra Otieno is an organizer and a member of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) in Kenya. He is also a member of Ukombozi Library There is a prevalent misconception that Marxism is solely concerned with economics. It is undeniably true...
On the Education of the People
The last two decades have witnessed an unprecedented (one can even say, obsessive), offensive against the ideas of socialism on a world scale. The collapse of the Soviet Union and it’s bureaucratically planned system, alongside it’s Eastern European satellites, was...
Should the Left Participate in the 2022 General Election or Boycott It?
I’ve come to learn that if you want to change the world, you must change people ~ Shyam Shah Presumed Objective: That electing a few Leftleaning members to Parliament will lead to Parliament upholding the Constitution and ensuring more just and democratic law-making. ...
Should the Left Avoid Parliaments and Elections Altogether?
This paper is written as a contribution to the ideological seminar “The Role of the Left and Social Movements in Elections” held at Kenya National Theater, Cheche gallery on 28th July 2021. I pen this modest contribution to highlight my position on the question as we...
The Reality of Bwanyenye or Bourgeoisie Elections – To Participate or not to Participate
In every country, the election of people to political positions presents an opportunity to the citizenry to choose those who can tackle their prevailing issues. Most countries in the world undergo this process at a specified interval. Due to the privileges associated...
History as a Guide to Action
The Kenya Socialist (TKS), in common with other organisations and individuals in Kenya and around the world, has faced disruption because of coronavirus and mismanagement by governments under rules of capitalism. However, we are now continuing the publication with two...
Kenya: Repression and Resistance from Colony to Neo-colony, 1948–1990
Editorial
We welcome you to the second issue of The Kenya Socialist (TKS). When launching the first issue in September 2019, we had planned for TKS to be published on a quarterly basis. However, changing situations and our limited resources have made it difficult to meet this...
Assesing Fitz de Souza’s Role in the Liberation of Kenya
Life & Times of de Souza The liberation of Kenya can be considered in two linked phases. The first was the war of independence from British colonialism, which ended in 1963. The second phase started after independence and is an on-going struggle for liberation...
Battles of Ideologies in Kenya
The Hidden Face of Capitalism Current events and history in Kenya are usually seen in the actions related to politics, law, governance and the leadership of the ruling classes. What is not seen or shown is the ideology of the ruling class — capitalism — underpinning...
“Socialism Utopian and Scientific”
How Capitalism and Socialism Meet the Needs of People
Frederick Engels wrote his pamphlet ‘Socialism: Utopian and Scientific’, in 1880. It is a masterpiece, which every revolutionary should read and study. Although it was written over a century ago, its ideas are still relevant today. The pamphlet is in three parts i.e....
Recovering the Lost Histories of Women in Kenya
Speech at the Conference of the African Studies Association of Africa (ASSA) at USIU on 25th Oct 2019 I had prepared to present a paper on Developing African Feminism by Recovering The Lost Histories of Women, but upon further reflection, I realized that the topic...
Women’s Oppression and Liberation
Historical Analysis of Gender The term gender, according to the World Health Organisation1, refers to the socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and relationships of, and between, groups of women and men. In Kenya, as with other...
Liberating Minds: Reflections on
Repression and Resistance:
Mathare Forum
Until Everyone is Free: Podcast
Socialism is the way ahead
Kenya was a victim of colonialism for decades before armed resistance by people brought independence. Hopes were high then that the aims of resistance would be met: stolen lands would be returned to their rightful owners and a democratic, socialist state in which the...
Ukombozi Library-A Speech During All African Peoples’
Conference 2018
All African Peoples Conference was held in Accra Ghana from 5th to 8th December 2018. The conference was organised in collaboration with the the Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana, the Socialist Forum of Ghana (SFG), Third World Network-Africa and Lincoln...