[Spokesperson’s Office Statement No. 672]
IMF and Imperialism Must Get Their Hands Off Kenya — The Ruto Fascist Regime Must Step Down Immediately!
On May 18, during the suppression of the nationwide general strike by Kenya’s murderous fascist Ruto regime, four people were killed—including one member of the Communist Party Marxist Kenya (CPMK)—more than 30 were injured, and over 350 were arrested. The Ruto regime, through live ammunition fire and tear gas attacks against the massive general strike, produced dozens of casualties on the very first day of the demonstrations and is now frantically threatening to criminally prosecute all 350 arrested workers and youths. The spark that ignited this general strike was the record-high fuel price increase announced on May 15. Kenyan authorities raised diesel prices by 23.5% and gasoline prices by 8%. Gasoline prices had already been increased by 24.2% in April. As transportation workers launched a general strike beginning at midnight on the 18th, completely paralyzing national supply chains in Nairobi, Mombasa—the country’s largest commercial port—and across the country, the authorities attempted to deceive the public by lowering diesel prices by 10.06 Kenyan shillings while simultaneously hiking kerosene prices for cooking and heating by 25.2%, further inflaming public anger.
Behind the soaring fuel prices stands the IMF (International Monetary Fund). The Ruto regime claims that the increase was caused by surging global diesel prices due to the Iran war. However, the enormous gap between the 10.7% rise in global oil prices and the 23.5% increase in Kenyan diesel prices reflects the regime’s scheme to shift the burden of IMF debt repayment onto the Kenyan people. After the expiration of the 3.6 billion dollar IMF program in April last year, the Ruto regime has been desperately pursuing negotiations for a new bailout program with the IMF, aiming to conclude talks in June or July this year in order to cover national debt amounting to 12.84 trillion shillings, equivalent to 69.5% of GDP. The IMF has pressured the regime to abolish subsidies, maintain fuel taxes, and officially include 2.5 billion dollars in debt on the national books, pushing the Ruto regime into fiscal suffocation while squeezing the lifeblood out of the Kenyan people. The Ruto regime has already poured an astonishing 69% of tax revenues into servicing IMF debt principal and interest payments, and is now even carrying out fuel price hikes that destroy the very right of workers and people to survive.
The neo-colonial domination and plunder of imperialism are layered upon one another. The United States has designated Kenya a “Major Non-NATO Ally” and established a US military base in Mombasa, turning the country into a bridgehead for domination over East Africa. By linking the Port of Mombasa with the “Lobito Corridor,” a continental logistics axis, imperialist forces are fiercely plundering the resources of Kenya and Africa. At the Mtongwe naval base, US Navy special forces and military advisors are permanently stationed, transforming Kenya’s elite maritime forces into subcontracted proxy troops. In addition, French imperialism, driven out of the Sahel region, has signed an unequal defense agreement with Kenya and stationed 800 French troops there, while deciding at the “Africa-France Summit” held on May 11–12 to provide loans worth 23 billion euros. Imperialist fascist puppet Ruto is forcing this multilayered structure of exploitation and plunder onto the Kenyan people, turning Kenya into a living hell.
The Kenyan people are rising up in total resistance, calling for the overthrow of neoliberalism and the downfall of the Ruto regime. Transport unions and the Communist Party Marxist Kenya (CPMK) announced that millions of people have joined a class-based general strike. It is estimated that more than 10 million people—including workers and youths directly confronting police in street battles with stones, as well as those supporting and participating in the strike—have joined this general strike. The Kenyan people are confronting the terror, torture, assassination, and massacres of the Ruto fascist authorities with even greater fury, filling the streets and workplaces. While previous large-scale protests were youth-centered struggles, this uprising is notable for being a strike struggle led by organized workers. The Ruto fascist regime must immediately halt its manhunts, targeted killings, and massacres based on imperialist intelligence systems, and the IMF and imperialist powers must get out of Kenya at once. Together with the heroic Kenyan people, we will surely defeat imperialism and fascism.
May 19, 2026 — Gwanghwamun, Seoul
Spokesperson’s Office of the People’s Democracy Party
