On May 18, millions of workers across Kenya launched a massive general strike in opposition to the fascist murderous Ruto regime and the predatory neocolonial policies of the imperialist forces and the International Monetary Fund behind it.

The nationwide supply chain, including the capital Nairobi and the largest trade port Mombasa, was completely paralyzed by the general strike of transport workers. In response, the Ruto regime indiscriminately fired live bullets and tear gas, resulting in four deaths, including a member of the Kenya Marxist Communist Party, and over 30 injured. The authorities have arrested over 350 workers and youth en masse and are threatening to prosecute all of them criminally.

The immediate trigger for this general strike was the highest-ever fuel price increase forced by the Ruto regime on May 15. The authorities raised diesel prices by 23.5% and gasoline prices by 8%, following a previous hike of 24.2% for gasoline in April. As public outrage surged, the authorities resorted to a deceptive tactic of slightly reducing diesel prices while skyrocketing the price of kerosene for cooking and heating by 25.2%.

At the root of the fuel price explosion lie the predatory conditions of the International Monetary Fund. The Ruto regime is desperately clinging to negotiations for a new IMF bailout to cover the national debt of 12,840 billion shillings, equivalent to 69.5% of GDP. The IMF is squeezing the blood and sweat of the Kenyan masses by demanding the elimination of subsidies, the maintenance of fuel taxes, and the formal inclusion of 2.5 billion US dollars in debt. The Ruto regime carried out the fuel price hikes that trample on the right to survival of workers and people, while pouring 69% of tax revenue into repaying the principal and interest of IMF debt.

The neocolonialist domination and plunder structure of the imperialist forces is also becoming more naked. The US has designated Kenya as a “major non-NATO ally”, set up a US military base in Mombasa, and stationed US Navy special forces and a military advisory group at the Mtwapa naval base. French imperialism, expelled from the Sahel region, has concluded an unequal defence agreement with Kenya and stationed 800 French troops, and decided on loans worth 23 billion euros through the “Africa-France Summit” forced through on May 11-12.

In response, the Kenyan masses have launched a full-scale general uprising, shouting for anti-neoliberalism and the overthrow of the Ruto regime. The Transport Workers' Union and the Kenya Marxist Communist Party declared that millions of masses have joined the class-based general strike. This struggle is characterized by having developed into a full-scale strike of organized workers, unlike past youth-centered protests. On the streets, brave stone-throwing battles are being waged against police violence, and the number of people joining and participating in the strike is estimated to exceed 10 million.