The Kenyan Socialist Vol 5

The Kenya Socialist exists to promote socialist ideas, experiences and world outlook; increase awareness of classes, class contradictions and class struggles in Kenya, both historical and current; expose the damage done by capitalism and imperialism in Kenya and Africa; offer solidarity to working class, peasants and other working people and communities in their struggles for equality and justice; promote internationalism and work in solidarity with people in Africa and around the world in their resistance to imperialism; and make explicit the politics of information and communication as tools of repression and also of resistance in Kenya. Vol. 5 includes nine articles: Editorial; Lessons from the Underground; Linked Theory with Practice in Kenya; The 59th African Liberation Day; Is Women's Household-Labour a Form of Exploitation?; Revolutionary Rhetoric and Populist Politics; Welcome Marx Memorial Library & Workers' School; The Ukombozi Library; Kiswahili Section.

The Kenya Socialist exists to: Promote socialist ideas, experiences and world outlook; Increase awareness of classes, class contradictions and class struggles in Kenya, both historical and current; Expose the damage done by capitalism and imperialism in Kenya and Africa; Offer solidarity to working class, peasants and other working people and communities in their struggles for equality and justice; Promote internationalism and work in solidarity with people in Africa and around the world in their resistance to imperialism; Make explicit the politics of information and communication as tools of repression and also of resistance in Kenya. The second issue is dedicated to issues of gender equality and carries three articles on the topic. Other articles in this issue include Other articles in this issue include the first part of Battle of Ideologies in Kenya by Shiraz Durrani. In the final article, Kimani Waweru shows how capitalism cannot meet the needs of working class. Also included is a reproduction of the review of the first issue of The Kenya Socialist carried in the Communist Review (CR) No 94, Winter 2019/2020.

The year 2023 saw one of the latest genocides in modern times - that of the people of Palestine by Israel. People born in the last or this century find it difficult to understand how such genocides in the past were allowed to take place at all, so barbarous an action this is. Yet the current genocide continues unabated, despite the millions of people around the world demanding an end to it. This exposes the real nature of capitalism and imperialism. It is in this situation that issue no 7 of The Kenya Socialist focuses on the Palestine Question. Articles include The Palestine Question, Claim to be Pan-Africanist? Until Everyone is Free, Zionism and the Myth of Democracy. The title of the Editorial is ‘We are all Palestinians’. Another article examines why ‘the struggle for Palestine is the struggle of working people worldwide’, showing the class and imperialist background to the genocide. The issue ends with solidarity statements from Kenyan organisations and a book review. It carries a number of illustrations on the struggle.

The Kenya Socialist is published by Vita Books, Nairobi and is edited by Shiraz Durrani and Kimani Waweru. It aims to encourage free flow of information, knowledge and discussion which can lead to a better understanding of socialism. It seeks to promote socialist ideas, experiences, and world outlook and to increase awareness of classes, class contradictions and class struggles in Kenya, both historical and current. The latest issue (No. 6, August 2023) carries articles on class struggle in Kenya, primitive accumulation of capital and an essay on understanding socialism through literature. Other articles are on the history of UMOJA and the role of trade unions as a force for resistance in Kenya. A Kiswahili section is also included, as is a section on ‘Remembering Pio Gama Pinto’. A short Poems section ends this issue.

First Published in 1971. This volume is an historical look at Kenyan international firms and labour, starting in 1945 and ending at the years of independence and the introduction of collective bargaining in 1967.

Study of the impact of multinational enterprise on labour relations in Kenya between 1945 and 1970 and the role played by the kenyan employers organization - describes racial discrimination prevalent prior to accession to independence, covers subsequent developments in respect of minimum wages, trade unions, collective bargaining, strike activity, etc., and comments on relevant labour legislation. ILO mentioned. Bibliography pp. 169 to 181 and references.