We demand the immediate release of Booker Ngese Omole, the General Secretary of the Communist Party Marxist – Kenya, who was unjustly abducted by Kenyan police earlier this week. Omole was brutalized terribly during this state-sanctioned kidnapping, and has been denied proper medical attention in custody.
CPMK has been at the forefront of worker and youth struggles against the right wing government led by billionaire William Ruto. This arrest is clearly an attempt at political intimidation as the government tries to stamp out all dissent, especially in the wake of the massive protests last year and the year before, which protested police brutality and the anti-worker economic policies of the government.
The U.S. government has long sought to dominate Kenya and use it as a base to carry out aggression all across East Africa. They view the Ruto government as a reliable partner. This further exposes the outrageous hypocrisy of U.S. rhetoric about human rights and democracy – this clearly doesn’t apply to their friends in the Kenyan government, who carry out acts of repression like this incident routinely.
Omole remains in custody, and has now been formally charged. The allegations are outrageous, and take a page from U.S. slander against Nicolás Maduro by baselessly alleging his involvement with drug trafficking cartels. These completely false charges should be dropped immediately.
We express our total solidarity with Booker Ngese Omole and the Communist Party Marxist – Kenya. He must be released now, and the perpetrators of his abuse should face legal consequences for their crimes!
