Ezra Otieno Interview, dirigente de la Revolutionary Socialist League (What led them to found it and what journey have they taken so far?) the Kenya
About to leave for Nairobi, after 3 intense weeks of activity in Argentina, We interview Ezra to tell us about the political situation in Kenya, its organization and its impressions about the visit organized by the LIS to deepen knowledge and exchange between the parties that comprise it.
1. ¿Cual is the situationn fieldsethics in Kenya? ¿Whatandthere are fighting processes and how the Revolutionary Socialist League intervenes?
The political situation in Kenya is as bad as ever. We have a new government that came to power in August. The new president, William Ruto was vice president of the previous president, and son of the first president, Kenyatta, but he went to the opposition. He beat Raila Odinga, who was supported by Kenyatta although he is the historical opponent of the Kenyattas. Ruto mainly brings a continuity of the capitalist and neocolonial system, and it is perhaps more neoliberal and more religious. He has transformed the government house into a kind of church, celebrating public masses from there every Sunday.
Of course the IMF measures are being implemented as always, and have introduced new measures, how to legalize GMOs and cancel subsidies for student transportation. The cost of living is very high and many Kenyans struggle to guarantee one meal a day. On top of this, In the north of the country it is suffering the most serious drought since independence and two million people are at risk of dying of hunger.
The oppression of workers is very high and unemployment is a central problem, which makes struggles very difficult because anyone who protests or wants to organize is easily replaced. In the countryside there is a certain level of subsistence agriculture and pastoralism, but in the cities the majority live in irregular settlements and live "from hand to mouth", like every day of the jobs he manages to do that day.
The few that are unionized have completely sold out management and do nothing for workers' rights or wages.. The teachers union used to fight and do some strikes, but in 2019 was intervened by the government, that imposed an obsequent direction. The student movement was also more active, with student centers and mobilizations. But that same year a law eliminated student center elections, imposing a system of delegates that allows the authorities to hand-pick the conductions, so the student movement has demobilized.
From the RSL we promote the Hunger Revolution campaign with which we pressure the government to lower the prices of food and basic needs. The campaign has been organizing monthly marches, that were interrupted by the elections but now we are organizing a stronger relaunch, because the needs are increasing.
2. ¿Cfrommo arosethe RSL? ¿Cómo isonn organized andandactivities carried out?
The Revolutionary Socialist League was founded in 2018 by a group of former university students who had just broken with the Kenyan Communist Party. We had ideological differences. Mainly that they defend China as an alternative to the imperialism of the US and Europe and we see that China comes to countries like Kenya to do the same thing that the IMF does., what is another imperialism. And also electoral politics and the alliances of the PCK with capitalist parties. Now they are with the new government, for example.
We organize ourselves into cells, we have about a thousand organized members. Our greatest work is linked to the Social Justice Centers in the informal settlements of Nairobi, that brings together neighborhood activists. Our militants in the cells within the Social Justice Centers provide political education, They participate in the activities and build the party from there. We also have some cells organizing students in the main universities in Nairobi and other cells organizing workers mainly in Voi and Kericho.
We have a Women's League party, that in the Social Justice Centers organizes containment centers for victims of gender violence, and does political education work with the women she organizes there. We also do ecological work. In one of the largest settlements in Nairobi, Korogocho, The garbage dump they installed next to it is a central problem., that pollutes water and air. There are many respiratory diseases, children with lung cancer; A recent study measured that life expectancy there may be as low as 40 years. There we organize the bamboo plantation, which helps filter toxins from the water, and we organized the neighbors to demand that the government transfer the garbage dump.
We are committed to the strategy of the socialist revolution, We fight for a system in which workers control the means of production, with health, education and housing guaranteed for all, with gender equality, no patriarchy.
3. ¿Whatandrelations they have with revolutionary organizations in the rest ofOnfear?
We are a pan-Africanist organization. In the spirit of being a pan-African socialist movement and internationalism, we want to build a socialist front in Africa. So we have built ties with some organizations in Africa that we see as progressive, for example, the Tanzania Socialist Forum, the South African Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party, the Nigerian Revolutionary Socialist Vanguard, the Namibian Landless Movement, the Pan African Congress of Sudan, the Sunkara Youth of Burkina Faso, individual companions in Senegal, Zimbabwe and Mauritius who want to build movements there. We have the objective of extending the LIS to more countries with the colleagues and groups that we can advance and incorporate, and to build a broader socialist Pan-Africanist movement on the continent.
4. ¿WhatandIt is Pan-Africanism.? ¿CuaThey are their currents and cuonl is the perspective of the RSL?
There are three currents in Pan-Africanism. There is a capitalist current, who seek an African federation, like the United States or the European Union but from Africa. Then there is the Black First movement which is based on the teachings of Marcus Garvey.. They start from an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist position, but they propose unity based on race, and not based on class. And then we have a socialist Pan-Africanist current, that seeks the unity of workers in Africa. We are part of the latter. We fight for a united socialist Africa, with a state without borders, with a language and an army.
5. ¿CHow they met and came together with the International Socialist League? ¿Whatandvalue give you internationalism?
Being an internationalist organization, We decided to go out and build ties with organizations that share our internationalist ideas.. So we wrote to the LIS by email, and the response was very positive. When we meet to know our ideologies, We found that we had a lot in common.. First, the strategy of uniting the working class, abolish capitalism and build Socialism around the world. Of course, The main thing is that we agree on the need to organize a world revolutionary socialist movement of workers.
The work we have been doing and the relationship we have been building with the LIS are going very well. The trip to Argentina strengthened our mutual knowledge, and we hope to contribute with the construction of the international in Africa to advance the permanent revolution.
6. ¿CuaAre you planning to visit Argentina??
I was very impressed by my visit to Argentina. I learned many things. It is impressive to see the level of struggle of Argentine workers, where they come from and the freedoms they have today that they gained through the struggles. And the MST embodies a true workers' movement. I found a militancy of very dedicated cadres in all sectors, militants who dedicate their lives to building a socialist world. I was particularly impressed with the party's financing., the financial campaigns they do, the dedication of all members to contribute to the party religiously. I loved the way the MST party organizes and I took away several ideas to discuss how to strengthen our organization..
When I arrived I had the expectation of learning new things about how to organize in the union., in the student, and was widely fulfilled. You can participate in some union mobilizations, of nurses and medical residents, the struggle of cultural workers. I met student activists from various places, from Quilmes, from the University of General Sarmiento, from the University of Lanús, of the universities of La Plata, Córdoba, Rosario and Santa Fe.
I was shocked by the work and level of organization of the Teresa Vive unemployed movement. The unemployed movement in Argentina is very organized, they move with many people, cut streets, and it shows that it works, because they get subsidies and food from the government for people who don't have jobs. I met several of their dining rooms, that we don't have there but I see that we can aspire to fight to have some of that. I participated in several of their meetings and was impressed by the work I learned in Manzanares, where the burghers have diverted a river and filled in wetlands to build a private neighborhood. So the comrades there have the social struggle and the ecological struggle that they carry out at the same time., which is very similar in some aspects to the situation we have in Kenya and the political work we do there.
I also participated in the events that the party did in Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Rosario. Especially the launch of Cele's candidacy was impressive, as a new way of doing things with a greater impact. I liked the militancy of my colleagues to publicize the events, In Córdoba we were handing out flyers to the workers, The classmates put up posters all over the city, and the attendance at the events was very large., and the message was very clear about what the party proposes and what it proposes for the elections. I saw that some new colleagues were recruited from that activity so I think they went very well..
Above all, I was able to participate in many party meetings and see how the party works at all levels. I can say that my expectations on the trip were met and exceeded.
