Italy – PLDP: SOLIDARITY WITH OUR COMRADES AND ACTIVISTS TARGETED BY REPRESSION IN KENYA
We hereby share an unofficial translation of a statement published by Per la Democrazia Populare (PLDP) on the 16th of May.
In recent days, Kenya has been the scene of a new crackdown on students, anti-imperialist activists, and international delegations mobilizing against the so-called “Africa Forward Summit,” a summit promoted by Emmanuel Macron’s French government in collaboration with William Ruto’s Kenyan government. The protests were organized in parallel with the “Pan-Africanism Summit Against Imperialism,” which denounced the role of French imperialism in Africa, the militarization of the continent, the plundering of resources, and the economic subordination of African countries to imperialist powers.
On May 11 and 12, Kenyan police carried out arrests, charged the crowd, and fired tear gas at students, protesters, and international delegates. Among those arrested were Kenyan activists and militants from France, Greece, South Korea, and Great Britain. According to various accounts, the crackdown occurred as protesters attempted to reach the statue of Dedan Kimathi, a historic leader of the Mau Mau anti-colonial struggle against British imperialism.
A protest outside the police station organized by comrades from the Communist Party Marxist of Kenya was met with an equally violent response, including gunfire directed at protesters demanding the release of those arrested.
Behind this repression, the semi-colonial and anti-popular nature of the Kenyan comprador regime—which is increasingly integrated into the strategies of Western imperialism—is once again laid bare. The protests against the France-Africa summit have denounced military agreements, economic penetration, and new forms of imperialist domination on the African continent, while the Ruto government responds with repression, arrests, and intimidation against young people, students, and popular organizations.
We express our solidarity with the comrades and activists targeted by the repression and reaffirm the need to strengthen the internationalist struggle against imperialism, bureaucratic capitalism, and the fascistization of states subordinated to the interests of imperialist powers.
French imperialism, seeking to maintain its dominance over its former colonies and to acquire new territories for exploitation by its private and public monopolies, attempts to portray itself as a “benevolent master” in contrast to US imperialism or Chinese social-imperialism. However, the masses and the proletariat of Kenya and the entire African continent clearly see the reality hidden behind the high-and-mighty rhetoric of the imperialist Macron.
For us Italian anti-imperialists, it is important to mention that Italian imperialism, through the so-called “Mattei Plan,” is also attempting to reclaim its “place in the sun” in Africa. Exposing these false humanitarian attempts is of primary importance.
Repression will not stop the resistance of the oppressed peoples against exploitation, war, and imperialist domination!
Per la Democrazia Popolare Collective
