Press Statement: Nairobi, Monday 16th June, 2025

Originally published: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19MsrqTzCw/

For Immediate Release

WE ARE IN CHARGE
A Political Response from the Social Justice Movement

Let us begin by acknowledging the irony: a broken clock is right at least twice a day. Robert Alai, in his usual ramblings, has accidentally stumbled on something resembling the truth, but let us not be confused. His statements are not born of political clarity but rather the panic of a decayed class scrambling to remain relevant.
Alai may call us names, but we are not here to please power or its sycophants. We are the sons and daughters of the people’s struggles, from Kayole to Kondele, from Mathare to Kisauni. We are not funded into relevance. We are born of the streets, baptized by tear gas, and wedded to the fire of struggle.

Yes, Robert; WE ARE IN CHARGE. Not of your rotten institutions, not of your comprador parties or police state, but of the consciousness of a generation, of the pulse of a nation hungry for change, and of the political direction of a people who have had enough. And with that clarity, we lay down our path.

✊🏾 On State Violence: Lagat and Murkomen Must Go
We are burying too many of our young. From last year’s brutal repression of protestors, to the latest state-sanctioned murder of Albert Ojwang, the message from the regime is clear: dissent is a crime, and truth is punishable by death.

Let it be known, Comrade Albert did not die in vain. His blood waters the tree of resistance, and we shall rise with even more fire.

We demand the immediate Arrest and prosecution of Deputy Inspector General Lagat and resignation of Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen, also Inspector General Kanja, DCI boss Amin and the head of IPOA must resign and be charged for issuing false statements under oath. These men have presided over a reign of terror where police killings, abductions, and enforced disappearances have become state policy, destroying livelihoods and killing so many more still unrecorded or reported.
We call on all comrades and wananchi to join the #JusticeForAlbertOjwang demonstrations tomorrow 17th June, 2025 and prepare for a mass uprising on June 25th as we #OccupyStatehouse and deliver the People’s Demands.

✊🏾 On Political Direction: The Youth Are Ready
The Nairobi Chapter of the Social Justice Movement is organizing a Youth Convening on June 20th during REX MASAI commemoration, not as a conference, but as a congress of political reawakening; one that will chart the way forward for a country betrayed by its elite and suffocated by foreign control. We are building a revolutionary political alternative from below; rooted in the land struggles, the informalized ghettos, victims and survivors of state brutality, the unemployed youth, the women fighters, and the grassroots leaders who refuse to bow.

✊🏾To Alai and His Class
You mock our movement, but you fear what we represent. You sense that we are not just raising demands against oppression, we are raising a force. A force that is building its ideology, reclaiming its history, and preparing to lead. A force grounded in the memory of the Mwakenya resistance, but unafraid to go further. A force that remembers where we’ve come from and is clear where we are going: TOTAL LIBERATION.

THE PEOPLE’S DEMANDS
We are not begging. We are declaring the following minimums that any state claiming to represent the people must meet:
📌SCRAP all taxation on basic commodities: food, education, and healthcare are rights, not privileges.
📌End all foreign interference: IMF, World Bank, NATO: keep off our sovereignty.
📌Jobs and livelihoods now: Full implementation of Article 43 within six months.
📌 Dignified housing for all: Compensate all victims of illegal evictions.
📌 Free and quality education and healthcare for all.
📌 Food Sovereignty: End dependency, support small farmers, and local food systems.
📌End state violence: No more police killings, abductions, or suppression of protest.
📌Reclaim public land and enterprises: Return what was stolen.
📌 Fair compensation for all essential workers.
📌Stop privatization: Our forests, water, health, and education systems are not for sale.

WE ARE IN CHARGE
The people are not powerless. They are just unorganized; but not for long.
This is a message to the regime, to its enablers, and to every doubter; the poor are no longer asking. They are organizing. And they are coming.

The Social Justice Movement is clear —we shall lead, we shall organize, and we shall win.

You can support our cause under the following Hashtags Online #JusticeForAlbertOjwang #RejectFinanceBill2025 #OccupyStatehouse #LandFoodandFreedom #PopularRevolution.

The Struggle Continues! ✊🏾

Signed by
SJM Nairobi Chapter Coordinating Committee

EDUCATE! ORGANIZE! LIBERATE!

 

Press Statement: Nairobi, Monday 17th June, 2025.

Originally published: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CHxyavKFU/

For Immediate Release

THE PEOPLE WILL NOT BE SILENCED

A Follow-Up Statement by the Social Justice Movement
Yesterday we declared: WE ARE IN CHARGE.

Today, the people proved it.

From Nairobi to Mombasa, youth, women, workers, hustlers, and hawkers took to the streets in defense of life, dignity, and a country that has long abandoned its people. We brought cities to a standstill. What we saw in return was not governance; it was state terror. A rogue regime unmasked.

State-Sanctioned Violence: The Real Crisis

In Nairobi, especially along Tom Mboya/Moi Avenue, the police worked hand-in-glove with hired goons armed with rungus, nyaunyos, and escorted by patrol vehicles. This was not crowd control. It was organized brutality. Below are just a few of today’s victims:

  • David Njoroge, an employee at Sparkle & Pop, sustained 3 deep injuries on the back of his head, his back, and leg as he tried to head home from work.
  • Philip Okech was shot by what he says were uniformed police in the left arm and left back of his neck — right in front of Posh Plate Hotel.
  • Collins Otieno was beaten by “wasee wa Sakaja” who he says were “too many to count,” armed with wooden clubs and clearly coordinated.
  • Stephen Omondi was run over by a motorcycle, shattering his leg, in what witnesses say was a reckless attempt to disperse the crowd.
  • And one hawker was shot in the head by police. His only crime? Being poor, being present, being alive.

Meanwhile in Mombasa, comrades were arrested while peacefully protesting. The message is clear: the state is not afraid of violence — it is afraid of resistance.

We are not confused: This is police terrorism. This is fascism in uniform. This is a crisis.
The State Is in Decline. The People Are Rising.

The state’s message is clear: silence the poor, terrorize the organized, and make protest feel like death.

But we have a message of our own: Kill one, thousands rise. The streets belong to us.

We are inspired and emboldened by the powerful intervention of the Release Political Prisoners Pressure Group — veterans of past struggles who have refused to be silenced.

Their words hit deep:
“We are not scars. We are gaping wounds of an oppressive regime.”
“Ojwang’s murder is not isolated. It is a pattern.”
“Silence is not an option. Appeasement is not peace.”

We echo and support their urgent and clear demands:
1. Immediate dismantling of all killer squads and clandestine police units.
2. Arrest and prosecution of DIG Eliud Lagat for the abduction, torture, and killing of Albert Ojwang.
3. A public judicial inquiry into abductions, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
4. Comprehensive reforms in the justice system to serve the people — not protect power.

We Repeat Our People’s Demands:
1. Scrap taxes on food, education, healthcare.
2. Expel IMF, World Bank, NATO influence.
3. Implement Article 43 in six months — decent jobs and livelihoods.
4. End forced evictions and ensure housing for all.
5. Free and quality education and healthcare for all.
6. Establish food sovereignty — not food dependency.
7. End police violence, abductions and murder.
8. Reclaim all public land and parastatals stolen by elites.
9. Fair pay for all essential workers.
10. Stop privatization of our forests, roads, water, and public services.
This Is Not the End. It Is Only the Beginning.
11. We demand the immediate resignation of Deputy Inspector General Lagat and Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen.

We stand today shoulder to shoulder with the survivors of Nyayo House, the mothers of Mathare, the comrades of Kayole, the martyrs of Kondele, and the fallen warriors like Albert Ojwang.

June 20: Youth Political Convening
June 25: #OccupyStateHouse – Deliver the People’s Demands

This regime will not save us. It cannot be reformed. It must be confronted.

We will meet their tear gas with memory.
Their guns with history.
Their violence with people power.

Let it be known: Kenya is not at peace. It is in resistance.
The streets have spoken.
The people are in charge.
We will not go back.
We will not be stopped.

#WeAreInCharge #TOTALSHUTDOWN #JusticeForEliJoshua
#LandFoodAndFreedom #OccupyStateHouse #RevolutionNow

The Struggle Continues!

Signed by
SJM Nairobi Chapter Coordinating Committee & Allied Communities

EDUCATE! ORGANIZE! LIBERATE!