marxism

Aug

17

2025

1 Comment

House of Cards: A Marxist Dissection of Kenya’s Bursary Scandal

Analysis, Commentary, Newsabolition of capitalism, bursary scandal, capitalism, capitalist system, class struggle, corruption in Kenya, democratic control, featured, featurednews, history, Kenyan bourgeoisie, marxism, Members of Parliament, neo-colonial economy, patronage politics, philosophy, politics, primitive accumulation, public funds misappropriation, social programs exploitation, systemic plunder, workers’ committees, workers’ state

Corruption as the Logic of Capitalist Rule The revelation that Members of Parliament in Kenya cannot account for Sh 4.1 billion in bursary funds is not an isolated scandal, nor a mere case of mismanagement. From a Marxist perspective, it is the naked expression of the capitalist state in a dependent, neo-colonial economy. In capitalism, the state is never neutral—it is an instrument of the ruling class, a machine for managing the affairs of the bourgeoisie. The bursary funds, ostensibly created to serve the poor and ensure that children from working-class families access education, have become yet another trough from…

Aug

01

2025

4 Comments

By Makozewe

August 1st: 43 Years After the Coup, Kenya Is Still Stuck in a Capitalist Dead End

Commentary, News, Opinioncapitalism in Kenya, corruption in Kenya, Daniel arap Moi, failed revolution, featured, featurednews, Hezekiah Ochuka, history, ideological bankruptcy, Kenya coup 1982, Kenyan constitution 2010, Kenyan left, Kenyan socialist movement, marxism, multiparty democracy, Mwakenya movement, news, political consciousness, political pluralism, politics, tribalism vs class politics, war, William Ruto violations

Celebrating a Coup That Shook a Dictatorship, Yet Failed to Dismantle It On August 1st, 1982, a group of Kenya Air Force servicemen led by Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka and Sergeant Pancras Oteyo Okumu attempted to overthrow the regime of Daniel arap Moi, a man who had entrenched a brutal one-party dictatorship under the Kenya African National Union (KANU). Through the self-declared People’s Redemption Council, the coup leaders sought to end a regime defined by corruption, tribalism, dictatorship, human rights violations, unemployment, and political marginalisation—all hallmarks of the Kenyan capitalist state. The coup ultimately failed, but its motivations remain strikingly…

Jul

23

2025

1 Comment

By Makozewe

Has Raila Odinga Betrayed the Kenyan Struggle? An Ideological Interrogation

News, Opinionbetrayal, capitalism, capitalistReform, classPolitics, communism, featured, featurednews, history, ideologicalAnalysis, KenyanStruggle, liberalism, manifesto, marxism, ODM, OgingaOdinga, philosophy, politicalLegacy, politics, proCapitalist, reformist, socialism, statePower

Capitalist Foundations: Raila’s Reformist Mission, Not a Revolutionary Betrayal From a pedestrian standpoint, Raila Odinga has betrayed the Kenyan struggle by failing to join hands with Gen Z to overthrow the government of President William Ruto. However, from an ideological perspective, to accuse Raila Odinga of betraying a revolutionary cause is to misunderstand the class character of his politics. Why? Since entering the electoral arena, Raila has never professed allegiance to a revolution aimed at toppling the capitalist system (the main problem) in Kenya. Instead, his ideological compass has always pointed toward capitalist reform, not abolition. His political project—starting with…

Jul

14

2025

0 Comments

By Makozewe

The Grand Deception: How Kenya’s Ruling Class Manufactures Ethnic Illusions to Conceal Class Domination

News, Opinionaffordable housing Kenya, bottom-up economy, capitalism, class-based politics, debt-driven development, economic inequality, elite capture, featured, featurednews, history, Hustler Fund, infrastructural optics, Konza Technopolis, marxism, Mombasa-Nairobi Expressway, news, political patronage, politics, pork-barrel politics, regional trade corridors, rural electrification, Ruto development projects, SGR extension

The Choreography of Power and the Mirage of Change: Kenyan statecraft has long resembled an ever-mutating masquerade, in which a narrow coterie of elites incessantly reshuffles partners, costumes, and slogans, while the material script remains obstinately the same. Presidents and members of Parliament switch from sworn foes to bosom allies with vertiginous speed, baptising each new arrangement as a “national unity” initiative, a “roadmap to peace,” a “national dialogue,” or, more recently, a “broad-based government.” To grasp the cyclical theatrics at play,one only needs to recall President William Ruto’s May 2025 memorandum with perennial opposition doyen Raila Odinga. It was…

Jul

08

2025

1 Comment

By Makozewe

Saba Saba and Gen Z’s Rebellion: The Blood-Stained Birth of a New Republic

News, Opinioncivic resistance, class tyranny, democratic illusion, elite capture, featured, featurednews, Gen Z rebellion, history, ideological vacuum, imperialism, Kenya protests, marxism, neoliberalism, philosophy, political betrayal, politics, postcolonial state, raila odinga, revolutionary movement, Saba Saba, state violence, systemic change

On 7th July 1990, the Saba Saba uprising marked a historic rupture in Kenya’s political order, as mass protests forced President Daniel arap Moi to abandon the suffocating one-party system and concede to multiparty reforms. It was a moment of profound symbolic victory, with leaders like Raila Odinga standing at the forefront of a struggle that promised democratic renewal. Yet beneath the surface of this apparent transformation, the architecture of oppression remained intact. Opposition parties emerged as ideological replicas of the regime they opposed, beholden to neoliberal orthodoxy and foreign financial institutions. The colonial state was not dismantled but merely…

Jul

05

2025

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By Makozewe

TOM MBOYA MEMORIAL: REVOLUTION INTERRUPTED, PROMISE DEFERRED

AnalysisAfrica, AFRICAN SOCIALISM, ALIBI, BULLET, CAPITALIST, CASUALTIES, COSMOPOLITAN, DREAMS, ENTANGLEMENTS, featured, featurednews, FIREBRAND, history, IMPERIAL, imperialism, LEDGER, marxism, PAN-AFRICAN, POLICY, politics, PROMISE, REVOLUTION, TOM MBOYA

Long before Nairobi’s political salons took notice, Tom Joseph Mboya was honing his craft amid the clang of factory floors and the stench of colonial neglect. As a sanitary inspector, he reforged the African Staff Association into the Kenya Local Government Workers’ Union, providing exploited municipal labourers with a disciplined vehicle for collective defiance. When the Kenya African Union was proscribed and Mau Mau leaders disappeared into detention camps, Mboya positioned organised labour as the beating heart of the anti-colonial front. From streets to strike committees, he confronted the colonial state with the one language it feared: unified mass action.…

Mar

24

2024

0 Comments

By Makozewe

On the Frontlines of Class War: Kenyan Doctors’ Strike Exposes the Raw Nerve of Capitalist Exploitation

News, Opinionbourgeois oppression, bourgeois state machinations, capitalist exploitation, class consciousness, collective bargaining agreements, communism, exploitation of healthcare workers, featurednews, healthcare worker solidarity, Kenya healthcare strikes, labor resistance, marxism, medical proletariat struggle, political organization, politics, revolutionary socialism, socialism, statements, systemic healthcare issues, underfunding in healthcare, wage disputes, working conditions

In the current tumult that grips the heart of Kenya, the striking doctors have become the latest embodiment of a proletariat at the mercy of capitalist exploitation, manifesting in what could be termed as a contemporary form of wage starvation. This scenario, an exemplar of the broader struggle against an oppressive system, deserves a critical analysis through the lens of socialist revolutionary change. The narrative of the Kenya doctors' strike is not merely a tale of industrial action; it is a microcosm of the global class struggle, where the workers' fight for just compensation and dignified conditions is continually stifled…