Statement of the General Secretary, Communist Party Marxist Kenya (CPMK)
Comrades, workers, peasants, students, and the oppressed of Kenya; hear this plainly and hear it twice: the so-called “review” of Kenya’s MNNA status is not a favour to our people; it is a manoeuvre of empire. It is an adjustment of imperial strategy. It is a bargaining table where our sovereignty is the chip. It is a zero-sum game decided in another capital, while ordinary Kenyans pay the cost.
On 23 May 2024, the U.S. Presidency elevated Kenya to the rank of Major Non-NATO Ally; the first in sub-Saharan Africa; sealing deeper military ties with Washington. This was a diplomatic reward for comprador loyalty, not a victory for national independence.
Now elements of the U.S. Senate; led by voices on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; are demanding reassessment. Do not be fooled: Senatorial “concern” is factional politics in Washington. It is the imperial centre recalculating which client best serves its interests: more control, more conditions, or a redistribution of favours. This political theatre is about Washington’s influence, not Kenyan livelihoods.
The Communist Party Marxist Kenya (CPMK) rejected the MNNA designation the day it was announced. We reject it now. We will reject it tomorrow. Because every privilege under MNNA is a chain, not a shield.
How MNNA Privileges Destroy Sovereignty
1. Priority Access to U.S. Military Surplus
What it means: Priority for “surplus” U.S. arms and vehicles.
Reality: We become a dumping ground for outdated war material, tied to U.S. spare parts and maintenance contracts. This dependency kills self-reliance.
2. Eligibility for Joint Weapons Development
What it means: Participation in “cooperative defence research” with the U.S.
Reality: U.S. corporations keep patents and control. Kenya supplies labour and resources; Washington decides the technology’s use.
3. Priority in Training and Financing
What it means: Fast-track access to U.S. military schools and loans.
Reality: Our officer corps is shaped in Pentagon doctrine, producing leadership loyal to foreign thinking. Financing means new military debts, not independence.
4. Fast-Track Arms Transfers
What it means: Simplified licensing for U.S. weapons sales.
Reality: Kenya becomes a captive market for American arms dealers, suffocating local defence industry.
5. Pre-Positioned U.S. War Reserves in Kenya
What it means: U.S. stores its own military equipment here for rapid deployment.
Reality: Our soil becomes a forward base for wars planned abroad, under foreign command.
6. Special Contracting Privileges for U.S. Defence Firms
What it means: U.S. companies get priority in defence contracts.
Reality: Kenyan public funds are funnelled to foreign corporations, undermining national industry and jobs.
7. Integration into NATO Standards
What it means: Aligning our military to NATO’s systems.
Reality: Kenya’s armed forces are tailored for NATO’s wars, embedding foreign oversight in our defence structure.
8. Diplomatic Badge of “Partnership”
What it means: Prestige in global diplomacy.
Reality: Political branding for compliance, pressuring Kenya to follow U.S. foreign policy even when it harms our interests.
Why the Review Is a Zero-Sum Game for the Masses
Whether Washington keeps MNNA status, amends it, or revokes it, the logic remains: our sovereignty is traded for imperial favour. For ordinary Kenyans:
Budgets shrink for social needs as arms imports take priority.
Our soldiers are sent abroad to serve imperial missions instead of defending our people.
Our soil becomes an armoury for wars not of our making.
Our politics are chained to Pentagon dictates.
CPMK’s Immediate Demands
1. Public disclosure of all MNNA-related agreements.
2. Immediate halt to foreign troop deployments tied to MNNA incentives.
3. Cancel all pre-positioning arrangements for foreign arms unless ratified by popular consent.
4. Audit all military procurement since May 2024 to expose comprador deals.
5. Legislate full parliamentary oversight over any military basing or foreign defence agreement.
Let it be known, the Imperial powers do not grant privileges out of generosity; they negotiate influence. Whether Washington restrains, rewards, or withdraws MNNA privileges will be dictated by its global calculations; never by the will of the Kenyan masses. Neither the bestowal nor the review of MNNA changes the material reality of neocolonial dependence.
Booker Omole
General Secretary
Communist Party Marxist Kenya ( CPMK )