https://iclfi.org/pubs/aba/3/mmembe-omole
In recent weeks the governments of Kenya and Zambia have each targeted prominent leftists for persecution. In Kenya, the general secretary of the Communist Party Marxist–Kenya (CPM-K), Booker Ngesa Omole, was kidnapped, tortured and slapped with a range of politically-motivated, trumped-up charges. The president of the Socialist Party (SP) of Zambia, Dr. Fred M’membe, is being charged under the country’s Cyber Crimes Act for “harassing” the head of state, Hakainde Hichelema, merely for critical remarks M’membe made in a podcast interview. Both cases pose not only defence of the left against vicious state repression. They are also crucial battles for fighting back against the renewed American push to shore up imperialist hegemony in Africa and pillage the continent’s resources.
On 23 February, comrade Booker Omole was violently abducted by plainclothes Kenyan police. He was brutally beaten, then denied medical care for his arm and other injuries for eight days in police custody. Following an outpouring of international condemnation, he and seven others were released on 3 March against a combined bail of 1.4 million Kenyan shillings (over R180 000!). Booker and his comrades have been accused on a number of far-fetched charges, most outrageously “links” with Venezuelan “drug cartels”. As the CPM-K explained, rubbishing this:
“Linking Booker to a ‘drug cartel’ is pure political theatre. His only link to Venezuela is solidarity with Nicolás Maduro. Internationalism is not narcotics. Anti-imperialism is not a crime.”
Booker and the CPM-K are well-known, outspoken fighters against US imperialism. They have consistently denounced the government of William Ruto for subordinating Kenya to the American empire and abetting its plunder of Africa. They played a prominent role in the 2024 youth revolt against the IMF-dictated austerity, and in the protests in 2025 against police repression. These are the true reasons behind the illegal detention of Booker and his comrades, and the wild trumped-up charges against them.
Similarly, Fred M’membe and the SP have been scathing critics of the Zambian government’s miserable kowtowing to Trump, and this is why Hichelema and his cronies want to silence them—his alleged insults regarding the body of former president Lungu are just a smokescreen. Fighting against their persecution is in the direct interest of everyone in the crosshairs of the American imperialist onslaught. We will work to promote their cases among all workers, leftists and liberation fighters in South Africa, who have a special interest in building anti-imperialist unity. Hands off Booker Ngesa Omole and Fred M’membe! Drop all the charges!
