Kenya People's Union

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Kenya People's Union
Oginga Odinga
Founded1966
Dissolved1969 (banned)
Split fromKANU
IdeologySocialism
Political positionLeft-wing
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The Kenya People's Union (KPU) was a

Oginga Odinga
. The party was banned in 1969.

History

Formation

In March 1966 a left-wing faction of the governing

Luo people in Nyanza province. Candidates in then Kikuyu-dominated Central province were trounced by KANU.[2]

Harassment

The state, dominated by the KANU party, employed many tactics to disrupt the KPU.Local employers were pressured into dismissing any staff who supported the KPU. This led to the dismissal of over 35 civil servants with others demoted. Additionally, passports were seized for KPU members so as to stop their international travel whilst also forcing companies to dismiss any KPU supporting employees.[3]

Three years of political harassment and detention of party leaders followed that ultimately brought about the end of the party. The

Luo's were generally hostile towards as Tom Mboya had been murdered few months earlier, with many fingers pointing at Kenyatta. Riots opened at the opening ceremonies, when KPU supporters attacked Kenyatta's entourage. What followed is now often referred to as the Kisumu massacre
. Over 10 people were killed, by official accounts, as Kenyatta's security personnel opened a fire against the demonstrators. Odinga and several other KPU officials were arrested two days after the incident.

Dissolution

Oginga Odinga was placed under house arrest on 29 October 1969, after violent anti-government demonstrations in Kisumu. His arrest, as well as other KPU MPs and officials, led to the storming of the Kenyan embassy in Moscow by Kenyan students.[4]

The KPU was banned on October 30, 1969,[5] claiming that the KPU and all its branches were "dangerous to the good government of the Republic of Kenya" and that the KPU had become "more subversive both in its nature and in its objectives".[5] This action transformed Kenya into a de facto one-party state.[6]

KPU politicians

The following politicians were affiliated with KPU. In the parenthesis is the constituency they represented.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ Bethwell A. Ogot, William Robert Ochieng': Decolonization and independence in Kenya. 1995
  2. ISBN 0-415-32982-5
  3. ISBN 978-1-78076-501-3
    .
  4. ^ "Odinga arrested after Kenya clashes" (PDF). No. 23. Workers Press. October 29, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  5. ^ a b Emman Omari (August 12, 2013). "Tears and blood as Big 2 face off". Daily Nation. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Daily Nation, October 23, 2009: The incident that transformed Kenya into a de facto one-party state Archived 2018-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Center for Multiparty Democracy: Politics and Parliamentarians in Kenya 1944–2007 Archived 2008-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
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