THE PEOPLE HAVE WON A VICTORY. THE RUTO REGIME MUST ANSWER FOR ABDUCTION, TORTURE AND POLITICAL PERSECUTION!
CENTRAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE STATEMENT
22 OCTOBER 2026
TO THE WORKERS, PEASANTS, STUDENTS AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE OF KENYA
TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST AND WORKERS’ MOVEMENT
The Central Organising Committee of the Communist Party Marxist Kenya (CPMK) announces the acquittal of Comrade Booker Omole, General Secretary of our Party, on all counts in the criminal proceedings at Mavoko Law Courts.
On Friday, 16 October 2026, the Honourable Court acquitted Comrade Booker Omole on all counts. The ruling followed a prosecution whose case had been seriously undermined by the sworn affidavit of Andrew Amoth, the complainant and prosecution witness who withdrew his earlier complaint and statements. The Court also ordered the immediate return of the Party’s property, including KShs 319,000 held by the police.
This is a victory for Comrade Booker Omole. It is a victory for CPMK. It is a victory for the defence of democratic rights against the criminalisation of revolutionary politics.
But we shall not stop at celebrating the acquittal. We shall pursue accountability for the abduction, torture, unlawful detention and political persecution that preceded this courtroom victory.
The court has acquitted our General Secretary. The state must now answer for what was done to him.
1. FROM ABDUCTION IN ISIOLO TO ACQUITTAL IN MAVOKO
On 24 February 2026, Comrade Booker Omole was abducted in Isiolo by armed men in plain clothes. They seized him and transported him towards Nairobi. Their conduct, the circumstances of his seizure and their initial failure to identify themselves were part of a coercive operation that deprived our General Secretary of his liberty.
Comrade Omole was taken through several locations and detained at Mlolongo Police Station. There, he was tortured. He suffered physical injuries, including damage to his arm and tooth, as well as cuts to his fingers. His treatment was an assault on his person, his dignity and his fundamental rights.
The Party identifies Peter Mugambi, the Officer Commanding Station at Mlolongo Police Station, as the police officer directly responsible for the torture of our General Secretary. Mugambi must be held accountable for his actions. No police rank, uniform or official position can shield an individual from responsibility for unlawful violence.
Comrade Omole was incarcerated for more than four days before the subsequent court proceedings and his eventual release on bail. He was then forced to defend himself against grave criminal allegations that threatened his liberty, reputation and political work.
The charges included allegations involving firearms, ammunition, drugs and assaults against police officers. The prosecution attempted to present our General Secretary as a criminal rather than a revolutionary leader engaged in political organisation.
On 9 March 2026, Andrew Amoth submitted a sworn affidavit seeking to withdraw his complaint and statements. The contradictions and questions surrounding the prosecution case became a significant feature of the proceedings. On 16 October, the Court acquitted Comrade Omole on all counts. The sequence is clear: abduction, torture, prosecution and acquittal.
We shall not allow the violence that preceded this acquittal to disappear from public memory. Nor shall we allow the conclusion of the criminal case to become an escape route from accountability.
A revolutionary was abducted. A revolutionary was tortured. A revolutionary was prosecuted. A revolutionary was acquitted on every count. The demand for justice continues.
2. THE RUTO REGIME MUST ANSWER FOR THE CRIMINALISATION OF COMMUNISTS
The abduction and prosecution of Comrade Booker Omole must be understood in the context of the political character of the Kenyan state and the growing conflict between the interests of the ruling classes and the aspirations of the working people.
The Ruto administration presides over a social order marked by exploitation, economic hardship, imperialist domination and the concentration of political and economic power in the hands of privileged classes. CPMK challenges this order because it stands against the interests of workers and poor peasants.
Our Party organises the exploited. We expose the class character of state policy. We oppose imperialism, comprador domination and the exploitation of labour. We advance the National Democratic Revolution as a necessary stage in the struggle towards socialism. We do not apologise for this political line.
The state cannot defeat our ideas through argument, so the danger arises that coercive institutions will be used to intimidate those who organise around them. The prosecution of our General Secretary demonstrated how criminal accusations can be deployed against a revolutionary leader and used to create a public impression of criminality before the evidence has been properly tested.
We hold the Ruto administration politically responsible for the conduct of the state under its authority. We demand answers concerning the circumstances of the abduction, the torture inflicted upon our General Secretary, the conduct of the police operation and the prosecution that followed.
The acquittal does not, by itself, establish every element of political responsibility or determine the criminal liability of individual officials. Those matters must be addressed through proper investigations and lawful accountability processes. But neither can the acquittal erase the events that brought our General Secretary before the Court. The government must not hide behind the formal existence of judicial institutions while questions about the conduct of its own security agencies remain unanswered.
We reject the use of police power to settle political scores. We reject the use of criminal proceedings to intimidate revolutionaries. We reject the criminalisation of communists for organising the working class and the oppressed.
The right to organise, to speak, to assemble, to criticise the government and to advocate socialist transformation is not a favour granted by the ruling class. It is a democratic right that must be defended.
3. PETER MUGAMBI MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
The Central Organising Committee demands accountability for the torture of Comrade Booker Omole at Mlolongo Police Station. Peter Mugambi must not be permitted to use his position as Officer Commanding Station to escape scrutiny. The torture, the circumstances of detention, the injuries sustained by our General Secretary and the handling of seized property require an independent investigation.
We demand that the relevant authorities investigate the conduct of Mugambi and every other officer involved in the operation, detention and subsequent prosecution. Any officer found to have committed an offence must face the appropriate legal consequences.
We further demand the preservation and examination of relevant records, including custody registers, occurrence book entries, medical records, statements, property inventories and any available surveillance material. This is not a demand for vengeance. It is a demand for justice. A police officer who tortures a detainee violates the very principles that public authority is supposed to uphold. A police station must never become a place where constitutional rights are suspended and human dignity is destroyed. The Kenyan people must not be expected to trust institutions that refuse to investigate allegations of abuse within their own ranks.
There must be no impunity for torture. There must be no impunity for unlawful detention. There must be no impunity for the abuse of public office.
4. RETURN THE PARTY’S PROPERTY AND ACCOUNT FOR EVERY SHILLING
The Court ordered the immediate return of the Party’s property, including KShs 319,000 held by the police. We demand full and immediate compliance with that order. The retention of Party property has imposed an unnecessary burden upon our organisation and interfered with our legitimate political and organisational work. The property of a political party cannot be treated as the personal possession of police officers or retained without lawful justification.
The relevant authorities must ensure that every item covered by the order is returned and properly accounted for. Any discrepancies in the inventories, the seizure of property or the handling of the exhibits must be examined.
The return of property is not a favour. It is compliance with the law. We shall pursue the matter until the Court’s order is implemented and all outstanding questions concerning the seized property are addressed.
5. THE REGIME’S CHANGING TACTICS WILL NOT SEPARATE THE PARTY FROM THE MASSES
Comrade Booker Omole has warned that the political offensive against CPMK may increasingly take the form of smear campaigns intended to portray revolutionaries as criminals, drug traffickers, arms dealers or enemies of public order. The Party must take this danger seriously.
When a revolutionary organisation develops stronger links with workers, poor peasants, students and the oppressed, its enemies may attempt to isolate it by discrediting its leadership. Criminal accusations, sensational propaganda and the deliberate circulation of falsehoods can be used to frighten potential supporters and weaken public confidence in the Party.
The objective is to separate the Party from its popular base. The objective is to make workers afraid to organise with communists, peasants afraid to associate with revolutionaries, and young people afraid to participate in struggles for political and economic change. We shall not permit this strategy to succeed.
We shall answer falsehood with facts, intimidation with organisation, and political isolation with deeper mass work. We shall strengthen our presence in workplaces, rural communities, educational institutions and popular struggles.
Comrade Omole has also warned of possible attempts to introduce agents of hostile forces into Party structures and exploit internal divisions. The COC calls upon all cadres to remain vigilant and disciplined. Credible allegations must be examined through established Party processes, with evidence and due procedure. Suspicion must not become a weapon against innocent cadres, and internal disagreement must not be exploited to weaken collective organisation.
Our strongest defence against infiltration, opportunism and sabotage is a politically conscious membership, sound organisational practice, collective leadership, principled criticism and correction, and firm roots among the masses.
We shall neither abandon vigilance nor surrender our Party to factionalism.
6. THE WORKING CLASS AND POOR PEASANTS MUST TURN THIS VICTORY INTO ORGANISATION
The acquittal of our General Secretary is an important victory, but it cannot substitute for the wider struggle against exploitation and oppression.
The Kenyan masses continue to confront unemployment, low wages, the rising cost of living, landlessness, insecurity, inadequate public services and an economic system that places private accumulation above human need.
These conditions cannot be overcome by changing individual office holders while leaving the underlying class relations intact.
CPMK calls upon workers in factories, farms, transport, public services and the informal economy to strengthen their organisations and deepen their political consciousness.
We call upon poor peasants and rural communities to organise around land, livelihoods, food security and control over the resources upon which their lives depend.
We call upon students and unemployed youth to reject political passivity and participate actively in the struggle for a society that guarantees dignity, meaningful work and a future for the majority.
We call upon women, progressive professionals, cultural workers and all democratic forces to defend political freedoms and oppose the abuse of state power.
The Party must become stronger through its work among the people. Our cells must become centres of political education and organisation. Our cadres must learn from the concrete struggles of the masses. Our propaganda must explain the relationship between everyday suffering and the structures of class domination.
We must not merely speak in the name of the people. We must organise with the people, learn from the people and return to the people with a clearer political programme.
The answer to repression is greater organisation. The answer to exploitation is class struggle. The answer to political intimidation is a united and politically conscious people.
7. INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MUST CONTINUE
The Central Organising Committee expresses its revolutionary gratitude to all communist and workers’ parties, trade unions, progressive organisations, lawyers, journalists and solidarity networks that supported the campaign for justice for Booker Omole.
Your solidarity helped sustain public attention during a difficult period. It demonstrated the importance of international working class unity in defending democratic rights.
But the acquittal does not conclude the campaign.
We call upon the international communist and workers’ movement to take the following actions:
- Publicise the acquittal of Booker Omole on all counts and challenge any attempt to continue presenting him as guilty of the charges on which he was acquitted.
- Demand an independent investigation into his abduction, torture and treatment in custody.
- Call for accountability for Peter Mugambi and any other officers found responsible for unlawful conduct through a proper investigation and legal process.
- Demand full compliance with the Court’s order concerning the return of Party property.
- Issue statements condemning the criminalisation of revolutionary political activity and defending the constitutional rights of CPMK and the Kenyan working class.
- Monitor and document further instances of alleged repression against communists, trade unionists, student activists and other progressive forces in Kenya.
- Raise these matters through appropriate international labour, legal and human rights institutions.
- Strengthen practical political solidarity with the Kenyan working class, poor peasants and progressive movements through exchanges, educational work and coordinated public campaigns.
We call upon our fraternal organisations not to allow the conclusion of the criminal proceedings to become a reason for silence. The acquittal is an occasion to intensify the demand for accountability and to defend the democratic rights of all those who challenge exploitation.
International solidarity is not charity. It is the organised expression of the common interests of working people across national boundaries.
An injury to one is an injury to all.
8. THE COMING POLITICAL STRUGGLES REQUIRE A STRONGER CPMK
As Kenya approaches the 2027 General Elections, the ruling classes will intensify their efforts to direct popular anger into competition between political factions that leave the existing economic order substantially untouched.
CPMK must intervene with an independent working class programme.
We must expose the class interests behind government policy. We must organise around the material needs of workers and peasants. We must defend democratic freedoms while advancing the National Democratic Revolution towards socialism.
The acquittal of our General Secretary must strengthen our resolve to build a mass based revolutionary organisation. It must deepen our commitment to cadre education, organisational discipline, democratic centralism and collective responsibility.
We shall defend every cadre against unlawful repression. We shall insist that every cadre, regardless of position, remains accountable to the Party’s collective processes. We shall strengthen unity on the basis of political principle and organisational discipline, not silence, personal loyalty or factional interests.
Our task is not simply to survive attacks. Our task is to build the political organisation capable of leading the working class and its allies in transforming Kenyan society.
We must emerge from this episode more organised, more politically conscious and more deeply rooted among the masses.
OUR DEMANDS
The Central Organising Committee of CPMK demands:
- Full compliance with the Court’s order for the immediate return of Party property.
- An independent investigation into the abduction and torture of Comrade Booker Omole.
- Accountability for Peter Mugambi and every other official found responsible for unlawful conduct.
- An end to the misuse of police powers and criminal proceedings for political intimidation.
- Protection of the constitutional rights of communists, workers, peasants, students and all political organisations to organise, assemble, speak and mobilise peacefully.
- An end to attempts to discredit revolutionary organisations through false or unsubstantiated criminal accusations.
- Continued international scrutiny and solidarity in defence of democratic rights in Kenya.
- A firm commitment by all relevant institutions to prevent the recurrence of abduction, torture and unlawful detention.
CONCLUSION: WE SHALL NOT BE SILENCED
Comrade Booker Omole has been acquitted on all counts. We celebrate this victory with the working people of Kenya and with comrades throughout the world who stood in solidarity.
But our struggle does not end in the courtroom.
The torture of our General Secretary demands accountability. The unlawful retention of Party property demands compliance with the Court’s order. The use of criminal proceedings against revolutionary leaders demands scrutiny. The broader struggle to defend democratic rights demands continued organisation and vigilance.
We shall not be intimidated into abandoning our convictions. We shall not be separated from the masses by smear campaigns. We shall not exchange our political independence for permission to organise.
We shall continue to organise workers. We shall continue to mobilise poor peasants. We shall continue to educate the youth. We shall continue to oppose imperialist domination and exploitation. We shall continue advancing the National Democratic Revolution towards a truly independent socialist Kenya.
The ruling class may command the police, but it cannot permanently suppress the material contradictions that drive the people towards struggle.
The ruling class may circulate accusations, but it cannot make falsehood a substitute for evidence.
The ruling class may attempt to isolate revolutionaries, but the strength of a revolutionary Party lies in its organised relationship with the masses.
We call upon every cadre, every worker, every poor peasant, every progressive student and every international comrade to turn this victory into renewed organisation and determined political action.
BOOKER OMOLE HAS BEEN ACQUITTED ON ALL COUNTS!
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE TORTURE OF BOOKER OMOLE!
HANDS OFF CPMK!
END THE CRIMINALISATION OF COMMUNISTS!
DEFEND THE DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS OF THE WORKING CLASS!
WORKERS AND PEASANTS OF KENYA, ORGANISE!
LONG LIVE PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM!
LONG LIVE THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION!
LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE FOR A TRULY INDEPENDENT SOCIALIST KENYA!
ISSUED BY THE CENTRAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE
COMMUNIST PARTY MARXIST KENYA (CPMK)
22 OCTOBER 2026