By Tunde Yusuf

The African continent remains marked by poverty, hunger, unemployment, and inequality, despite being richly endowed with vast natural and human resources. Across the continent, capitalist politicians, backed by institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), continue to impose harsh neoliberal policies. These include increased taxation on basic needs, severe cuts to social services, and skyrocketing education fees, all while the African ruling class indulges in luxury and obscene wealth.

From Kenya’s recent uprisings to the #EndBadGovernance movement in Nigeria, and similar actions in Uganda, Togo, and Ghana, protests are emerging across the continent as people resist these anti-poor policies and the illusion that democracy under capitalism will uplift the majority.

In Kenya, young people have spearheaded mass resistance against the Ruto regime. Their demands centre on rising unemployment, the punitive Finance Bill, unlawful arrests and detentions, and police violence, including the killing of at least thirty-two protesters. Among the victims was blogger Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody, as reported by the Kenya Human Rights Commission. These brutal state actions have only fuelled public anger, giving rise to nationwide protests.

Labour unions in Kenya, however, failed to provide bold leadership. This failure mirrors a continental trend where labour leaders often capitulate to the very regimes they should oppose. It is this vacuum that has pushed young people to organise independently, using tools like social media and artificial intelligence to drive mobilisation.

In Togo, the Gnassingbé dynasty has ruled for over 58 years. Recently, Faure Gnassingbé was sworn in as president of the council of ministers with no constitutional term limit—an autocratic move widely resisted by young people through street protests. These demonstrations have, once again, been met with arrests, detention, and killings.

In response to these worsening conditions, a wave of military regimes has risen in countries like Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea. Figures like Ibrahim Traoré in Burkina Faso have been embraced by many young people as an alternative to the corrupt civilian regimes. But this is not a new phenomenon. In the past, military rulers such as Muammar Gaddafi, Thomas Sankara, and Jerry Rawlings also rose to power with mass support, revolutionary rhetoric, and promises to govern in the interest of the poor.

However, history shows that these regimes ultimately failed to liberate their societies. Jerry Rawlings, for example, ended up embracing imperialism. Ghana, under his watch, became a testing ground for IMF and World Bank experiments. Gaddafi was eventually overthrown and killed after ruling for over four decades in a regime entrenched in cronyism. Even Sankara, whose image Traoré tries to emulate with his red beret and anti-imperialist stance, was toppled in a coup by Blaise Compaoré, a close ally, in 1987.

While military rulers may implement some pro-people policies in areas like housing, education, and agriculture, history shows that these reforms cannot substitute the power of the working masses themselves. Revolutionary change must be driven from below. The working class, which produces society’s wealth, must take control of the state and the economy. Only a workers’ state, organised democratically from the grassroots, can guarantee an end to exploitation and suffering.

Even though the Ruto regime seems to have regained the upper hand through brutal repression and police killings, the courage of Kenya’s youth and working people must be applauded. The key lesson for the masses is that the fight against Ruto is also a fight against capitalism and landlordism, the system responsible for their misery. Capitalism, both local and foreign, thrives by extracting wealth from workers while condemning them to mass poverty.

What is needed is not another military strongman or reformist government, but a Socialist Alternative. That begins with mass education and political enlightenment of workers, young people, and women on the principles of scientific socialism. Capitalism, regardless of how it is packaged, stands in opposition to the interests of the working class.

Changing the fortunes of the people in Kenya, Togo, Nigeria, the Sahel, and the rest of Africa means putting forward a programme for socialism. It requires the building of a revolutionary workers’ party—similar to the Bolshevik Party led by Lenin and Trotsky, which in 1917 succeeded in overthrowing capitalism in Russia.

Only through building such revolutionary parties with clear socialist programmes can Africa be rescued from hunger, poverty, disease, unemployment, war, and inequality. The task before the working masses is to get organised—because only through united struggle can the continent break free from the chains of capitalism and imperialism.