The Charter of the Social Democratic Party

THE
CHARTER
OF
THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Kenyans demand social justice!
The future of Kenya can only be rooted in socialism.
We cannot build a future on the suffering of many Kenyans for the benefit of a few.

WHEREAS a Government reflecting all the people of Kenya, and excluding none, is an historical demand of the Kenyan People;

AND CONSCIOUS of Kenya’s noble history and greatness and its true traditions of national struggle for its ideals;

AND WHEREAS we cannot base or build our society on class division, prejudice, fear or hatred of each other; and whereas Safety will not be found in the bosom of one’s tribe, nor will the nation advance by the making of war pacts between the potentates of fiefdoms or tribal warlords, which besides cannot be a formula for choosing our Presidents or the lawmakers in Bunge;

AND WHEREAS Kenyans have rejected dictatorship and must substitute government as an opportunity for personal enrichment with government as a duty to the people;

ACKNOWLEDGING WITH GRATITUDE AND HUMILITY the lives, struggles, sacrifices, fortitude and courage of those in whose path we follow to ensure a free and truly independent Kenya AND PLEDGING that we will not betray them or our people now or in the future;

RECALLING that those elders who died or survived with great suffering in the struggles for national freedom with their lives and blood gave us self-respect in the period and aftermath of colonial domination. To them we owe and return, and shall forever return, our respect and give them also our admiration and affection, and seek to emulate their love for our country, courage and persistence against tyranny and corruption;

WE PROMISE THEM that THEY SHALL NOT BE FORGOTTEN nor their deeds be unknown to our children in the generations to come, and that the deceitful veils that still withhold true acknowledgment of them will be torn away;

AND WE FURTHER PROMISE THAT THIS NATION in generations to come is inherited by the spirit of its freedom fighters and not that of its Home Guards, from wherever they come;

AND WE FURTHER PROMISE that those who were ready to give up their lives, freedom and few possessions for others and a better Kenya for all after 1963, in 1966 and thereafter, and who lit candles in the encroaching gloom of successive debased, murderous and corrupt governments of betrayal will not have made their sacrifices in vain;

AND RESTATING THAT THE UNDERSTANDING of all our freedom fighters of phenomena of colonialism, imperialism and the forces of exploitation and extraction in our country, our region and our Continent is the example and that our understanding of imperialism and the forces of exploitation and extraction in our country, our region and our Continent is critical and necessary to the realization of SDP’s political tasks and socialist ideological beliefs;

AND WHEREAS we need to reclaim our country and give it its true national and international outlook, democracy and justice, with a government founded institutionalized systems of participatory democracy, our history of struggle and the ideology of socialism;

RESTATING that THE ATTACK ON POVERTY IS OUR NATION’S MOST URGENT PRIORITY AND THUS OUR FIRST DUTY TO OUR PEOPLE;

REALISING THAT ONLY THROUGH SOCIALISM CAN THE MAJORITY EXPLOITED AND OPPRESSED KENYANS BE LIBERATED FROM POVERTY;

NOW THEREFORE THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (THE SDP) COMMITS ITSELF TO SOCIALISM AND THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES THAT ITS DECISIONS AND POLITICAL ACTIONS ARE, AND SHALL REMAIN, GOVERNED BY ITS IDEALS, PRINCIPLES AND BELIEFS THAT:

• The unity of Kenya and its peoples, led by the working class, is paramount and the firmest guarantee of the well-being of every Kenyan.

• The SDP denounces and categorically rejects political activity and political parties based upon ethnicity, regional origin and religious divisions.

• The SDP rejects ethnic hegemony by any group or groups.

• Every Kenyan is a part of the nation and its rightful beneficiary.

Our diverse peoples in unity are cords of unassailable strength.

The unity of Kenya is the bedrock of all our national political, economic and social activity and the test of our political actors and actions.

All Kenyans are equal parts of Kenya, equal in dignity, in the right to equal resources and to equal opportunity.

The SDP’s urgent task is to ensure a national democratic change away from the destruction, sectionalism and inequities of the past and the present.

The SDP’s ultimate task is the establishment of socialism and a socialist state in Kenya.

The SDP is and shall remain a political party committed to socialism.

The values and ideals that Kenya brought to its nationhood in 1963 were the rejection of colonialism that among other things meant the abuse of power; the affirmation of freedom, both national and individual, of safety from arbitrary harm. Uhuru was for national unity, tolerance, hospitality and inclusiveness; for the sharing of both power and resources equitably; for freedom to think, for the concept of individual and academic independence and the flowering of creativity, among other aims.

• These ideals have persisted against governments of betrayal, corruption and murder.

• Government is a covenant that there shall always be increasing convergence between the promises of the Constitution of Kenya and the circumstances of every Kenyan’s life.

• The purpose and priority of Government is to ensure that life, liberty, nutrition, health, shelter, education and democratic governance shall be adequately and increasingly the possessions of all Kenyans.

• Education shall be the foundation of Kenya’s future, ever improving and deeper.

• Technological knowledge and resources are for the widest possible use by all Kenyans in every single part of Kenya.

Attack on poverty shall always be the priority of the SDP Government and vigilance against poverty and all forms of injustice shall always be a constant.

Government is a duty carried out in accordance with principles and policies approved by the people with free and informed consent.

The SDP will be and remain real. For only words and actions that have a basis in truth and possibility have reality to those in long difficulty. To a people in difficulty, change is only change if something has moved from the intent of words to the tangibility of altered circumstance in the positive direction. We must not offer only words where we can deliver action. We must not offer only hope where we can offer change. Cynicism and disappointment will be the harsh critics of false words and false hope. We must be ready to face the possibility of that criticism, spoken and unspoken, with action that is clear and decisive.

• The task of government approached correctly and with the affirmation of our people, will not only make the SDP a strong force within the country but also make Kenya a strong force for social justice within our Region and on the Continent, pushing back the ever-alluring masks of reaction.

• The SDP as a party and its officers and members have loyalty to the socialist ideas and ideals of the Party and not loyalty to an individual or to any ethnic group or region or ethnic hegemony.

• The SDP will be an energetic party in Local Councils, Parliament and Government, zealous about the immediate welfare of all its peoples.

• Government is on the basis that all its peoples are an integral part of the nation and its decisions, remembering always that our different provinces are mutually interdependent in ensuring our national political and economic survival and advancement.

• New resources discovered, whether oil or others, are national assets on trust for all the peoples of Kenya and are to be managed accordingly for the present and future generations, not for the personal enrichment of any holder of public office in Kenya.

Kenya’s destiny as a democratic socialist society, as a loyal partner in a community of nations, as a leader in our region and on our Continent awaits the efforts of the SDP and all Kenyans.

So then should Kenyans join the SDP?

We say do not only join us. Instead, when we come to implement change, let us already find your ready hands working. When we come out in peaceable street mass action, let us already find you there. When we come to elections, let us find you already there as our candidate or voter for that change. We will be there. Let us meet there.

SDP therefore does not ask Kenyans to follow. We say, let us instead meet in the efforts ahead of us, more and more Kenyans meeting together for the real change which is democratic socialist Kenya, the vision of the SDP and that of the overwhelming majority of Kenyans.

“Is there an alternative?” Kenyans are asking.

Yes, the SDP is the alternative.



COMMITTED TO by the SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, its officers and members AT NAIROBI on 23RD OF SEPTEMBER 2007