Kongamano la Mapinduzi (KLM) sends revolutionary greetings to all African people and progressive organisations on the continent and its diaspora on this 60th commemoration of African Liberation Day. KLM  – a coalition of diverse Kenyan individuals, organisations, initiatives and movements, generally identifiable as progressive within struggles for civil, political, social, cultural, economic and ecological justice and freedoms – also sends its fraternal greetings to all organisations and movements gathered here today, and especially those organising this event.

But as we wish you a progressive commemoration of this African Liberation Day, we concurrently ask that you all pause for a moment and think about the millions of African people facing repression, depression, war, ecological disaster, economic terrorism and the stripping of their dignity in whatever form it takes. We ask all Africans to stand with our brothers and sisters facing untold suffering and hardship on the continent – especially those affected this year by tropical storm Freddy which hit Malawi in March 2023, and most recently, those affected by the ongoing war in Sudan which began in April 2023. We additionally ask all African people, wherever they may be, to show solidarity to our brothers and sisters in the African diaspora who everyday face racism, including its systemic manifestations.

We arrive at this juncture with our people still bound by politics dictated from Washington and Brussels, as Patrice Lumumba, that beloved son of Africa, eloquently stated decades ago. We arrive at this moment with colonial patterns of economics still intact and prevalent across the continent – anchored majorly by a comprador class of sell-outs and their masters across the seas and oceans. We arrive at this moment facing ecological devastation. We arrive at this moment with the African liberation struggle still unfinished. 

We however also arrive at this moment with a re-awakening, a Mwamko. Our young people are meeting again – and they are telling stories of resistance. Stories of African unity, stories of justice, peace and dignity. Our organisation is today, here at the Kenya National Theatre, proud to join other organisations in calling for land, food and freedom. We however also remember that this national theatre was officially opened in 1952 – the same year that the state of emergency was declared – as a means of enabling British settlers escape the reality of Africans in revolt and resistance. History calls upon us to once again make it a theatre of the people.

Our movements are today calling for a borderless Africa. Our environmentalists are calling for ecological sovereignty. Our feminists are calling for gender equality. KLM reiterates that these calls are all important, and that they must be treated with the respect they deserve both within and without our organisations -in whatever spaces we find ourselves in.

Like floods of revolt, we arrive at this critical juncture of the unfinished African liberation struggle demanding for reparations and restitution of stolen lands. In essence, we demand for full political and economic independence. We also recognize that the only viable pathway to that which we demand is organisation and mass work. That is why KLM continues to organise the masses of our people.

Our immediate ask, however, is that all comrades should engage in continuous political education and action. For as Cabral reminds us, “no matter how hot the water in your well is, it cannot cook rice”. That rice needs fire to cook, and we at KLM re-affirm political education as the fire that fuels our resistance – and our revolution by extension.

A Luta Continua!

KLM Central Committee – Nairobi, 25 May 2023