SDP Relaunches in a Dynamic Way

Friends and Supporters of SDP in Kenya and around the world:

Many of you have been wondering what happened to us, especially after the December 2007 civic, parliamentary and presidential elections.

Believe it or not, a lot has been happening, away from the daily newspaper headlines.

First and foremost, we have been reorganizing and revamping the party.

For the last two years, the National Executive Committee of the party has been very busy revising and updating the key programmatic documents of the Social Democratic Party. All of these documents are available on this blog so please feel free to download and study them. We welcome your feedback.

Secondly, we have affirmed and reinforced the SOCIALIST orientation of the party.

We believe that political parties should have clear ideological visions grounded on accessible party programmes, manifestoes and other articulations of what the party stands for. We are proud to carry high the banner of socialism in Kenya for we are convinced that in order to defeat imperialism and neo-colonialism in Kenya we must organize and mobilize for a socialist oriented National Democratic Revolution which harnesses the energies of the working people of our country both rural and urban, as well as the progressive petit-bourgeoisie, the patriotic intellectuals and all other democratic minded members of Kenya's middle strata.

We feel that the contributions of progressive members of the growing Kenyan Diaspora in North America, Scandinavia, the UK, continental Europe, the Middle East and rest of Asia as well as South Africa and all over the African continent, Latin America and the Caribbean is critical for the success of this political project. As socialists we ally with all other democratic and patriotic forces, even where these forces take non-socialist viewpoints.

We see ourselves as working in internationalist solidarity with our comrades, brothers and sisters in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nepal and all around the world.

We support the efforts of democratic forces in the United States and elsewhere which are trying to roll back the decades of Reaganomics, Thatcherism, Bush militarism and other manifestations of imperialist neo-liberalism.

On the home front we have plans underway to recruit more people into the Social Democratic Party of Kenya and to this extent we have made a lot of progress in many parts of the country.

More recently we have made certain changes to our national leadership.

At the end of last year our Chairperson Ndugu James Orengo sought permission to seek reelection as a member of parliament on the ODM party ticket. This was readily granted since the SDP had already identified ODM as a sister party and was in fact campaigning vigorously for Raila Odinga, ODM's Presidential flag bearer. We are happy to report that Ndugu Orengo made it comfortably to the Kenya National Assembly and is already part of the Grand Coalition cabinet in the key ministry of Lands. Already Ndugu Orengo has earned kudos and plaudits by his determination to initiate the process of wide ranging and long overdue land and other agrarian reforms- moves that have put him on a collision path with elements of the ancien regime comprador bourgeoisie.

However his departure from the SDP created a vacuum that had to be filled in order for the party to function efficiently and effectively.

We have also been confronted with the need to fill the Secretary General's post following the abrupt resignation of Ndugu Cyprian Orina Nyamwamu for a number of reasons.

At its June 10th 2008 meeting held at the SDP party offices on Summit House, Moi Avenue, the National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party of Kenya unanimously agreed that Ndugu Mwandawiro Mghanga, the Deputy Chair of the Party serve as the Chairperson of the SDP on an interim basis pending the 2008 National Leaders Conference slated for later this year at which new officials of the party would be elected. Similarly, Onyango Oloo was unanimously approved to be the Acting Secretary General of the party.

Our leading comrades are at the forefront of important initiatives such as the Kenya constitutional review process and the campaign for peace and justice following the tragic events that followed the controversial announcement of the presidential results on December 30, 2007. We have taken part on forums in Nairobi and elsewhere on the Xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the spirited election campaign in Zimbabwe as well supporting and taking part in street protests and other demonstrations over rising food prices, the criminalization of popular dissent in Kenya and other democratic struggles.

On the international front, we are bolstering our support for the people of Cuba through our active participation in the Kenya-Cuba Friendship Society which happens to be chaired by Ndugu Mwandawiro with several SDP leaders active in the Executive of that friendship society. We are also very much part of the Kenya-Venezuela association and are making plans to form a Kenya-Vietnam Friendship group. We are also reaching out to Kenyan comrades in South Africa, the USA, Canada, Sweden and Norway to forge even stronger links with progressives in those countries.

Comrades, Supporters and Friends:

The Social Democratic Party of Kenya is soon embarking on a massive fund-raising drive targeting Kenyans and friends of Kenya both within and outside the country. Please look out for the announcement and remember that no donation is too small and no contribution is too big.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Signing off in Solidarity,

Onyango Oloo

(Acting) Secretary General

Social Democratic Party of Kenya