Kenya Socialist Web Site HARAKATI ISSUE NO. 7 (December 1999/January 2000)
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KYMS AND THE QUESTION OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
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At the centre of every political Movement or party is the question of ideology.
This question has become a dominant topic both among KYMS members and supporters
alike. Following years of internal discussions, KYMS has decided to start
tackling this fundamental question by putting its views across. This is because
we do not want our readers, supporters or sympathisers to mistake the ideological
leanings of our movement or even develop illusions about what we do not stand
for.
Since Kenya was liberated from physical colonialism by the Land and Freedom
Army (Mau Mau) the oppressive KANU State that inherited power in 1963 has
been misruling the country using a deformed capitalist ideology that does
not follow the rules of capitalism. The relationship between the capitalist
class and Wananchi (Citizens) has been that of the oppressor and the oppressed,
an antagonistic relationship whose contradictions continue to grow. A small
minority of exploiters continue to live on the sweat, blood and labour of
poor workers and peasants toiling in the cities and rural areas.
The KANU State has become a source of wealth making the corrupt ruling class
ultra rich in the face of mass poverty. Using the instruments of the State,
a facade of democracy has been woven to become part of the monolith used
by the rich to control markets, harvest profits, exploit raw materials, sell
the country to International capital and to push the cost of living higher
and high.
The consequence of the ailing political system in our country has been the
mental, psychological, physical and material impoverishment of the population
to a level that has brought to the fore the question as to how the system
can be defeated and a new society reconstructed. As Kenyans starve to death
in North Eastern Province and vicious attacks against democratic rights continue,
the ruling class has perfected it's collaboration with agents of international
capital to plunder the country's wealth and resources. KYMS takes the position
that the ideology of capitalism has failed in Kenya, just like the system
has also failed workers and the oppressed Internationally. Reforming the
constitution will not resolve the crisis.
Our stand is firmly based on a change of the system, a feat, that we believe,
will only be achieved through a democratic revolution led by the working
class. We believe that the wealth of Kenya should be on the hands of Wananchi
and not on the hands of the minority rich class. We think that the means
of producing wealth - the land, industries, factories and other strategic
economic institutions like the banks, insurance companies, public transport,
natural resources etc should be under the democratic workers control and
management.
Our view is that instead of a few politicians teaming up to cheat the population
after every false election, workers and peasants should form an alliance
together with other oppressed masses to seize power and run society in their
interest under a revolutionary workers/peasants party. We believe that the
idea of free market that has, for decades, ensured exploitation and plunder
of Kenya's wealth should be challenged with the ideas of a planned economy
that has service to the people and not profit as it's central foundation.
The concept of seeking private solutions (under the privatisation programme)
to a national crisis should be abolished in favour of a democratic collective
ownership of the wealth-producing institutions by those who produce the wealth.
In other words, KYMS is firmly anti-capitalist and it is from this position
that we are waging struggle.
Today, all political parties in Kenya are either ideologically bankrupt or
on the right. What we are offering is an ideological opposition and at this
point, our major task is to render a systematic explanation of our ideological
standpoint together with a clear analysis of the political, social and economic
crisis in Kenya as a way of clarifying what needs to be done if Kenya is
to be set free. We have the gigantic task of convincing Kenyans about the
viability of our ideas through patient explanations and clarity of thought
and analysis. A general view of the International situation puts capitalism
on a losing end.
With the collapse of Stalinism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern block
countries, Western imperialism has failed to root capitalism in Russia. Instead,
the Mafia has taken over the country, reducing this former superpower to
a third-world country forced to beg from IMF and world Bank. Events in Russia
has seen the Russian "Communist Party" grow to dominate the Duma. The disintegration
of the Berlin wall and the re-unification of East and West Germany has been
a disaster that has brought about high level of unemployment, reduced standards
of living and mass poverty in both countries. The former Yugoslavia has disintegrated
with the consequence of a bloody ethnic cleansing abetted by NATO, Imperialist
America and Dictator Slobodan Milosovic. In the whole of Eastern Europe,
prostitution is back while Eastern Europeans openly testify that the situation
was better during the days of "Communism".
In Rumania, the abolition of "communism" has resulted in mass poverty and
deprivation, forcing the Romanian President to admit during Clinton's visit
to that country that "After 10 years, the changes we expected may take a
whole generation to realise". In the former Czechoslovakia, workers are losing
their jobs as "unprofitable factories" are closed down. A mass movement is
developing from below to challenge attempts of capitalist restoration in
many ex-Stalinist countries. There is not a single example to show that capitalist
ideas are working in these countries. We will return to the subject of "What
happened in the former Soviet Union and Eastern block countries" in our future
documents.
The post Stalinist euphoria about the supremacy of the market has ended while
the fundamental contradictions in the capitalist system has shattered the
propaganda of the ruling class Internationally. In Kenya, the desire of the
masses to overthrow the old order of the capitalist elite means that KYMS
will have to increase its effort in providing the theoretical, strategic
and tactical basis for the building of a revolutionary alternative with a
distinct political programme capable of showing the way forward. For KYMS,
The question of ideology will remain a major issue which the Movement will
continue to tackle in the cause of time.
Published by Kenya Socialist Democratic Alliance
(KSDA)
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