Booker Omole, Secretary General-Communust Party of Kenya
Instead of celebrating International Women’s Day, the Communist Party of Kenya (CPK) used the occasion to denounce what it calls the systemic exploitation of women’s unpaid domestic labor. Speaking in Siaya, CPK Secretary General Booker Ngesa Omole delivered a fiery speech, condemning capitalism and patriarchy for perpetuating gender oppression.
“Today, we do not gather to celebrate; we gather to condemn,” Omole declared. “Unpaid labor is not love. It is theft.”
Unpaid domestic Labor: The silent engine of capitalism
Omole decried how women’s invisible labor—cooking, cleaning, childcare, and caring for the sick—is systematically extracted without compensation. He argued that capitalism thrives by keeping wages low while relying on women’s unpaid work to sustain economies.
“If women stopped working for free tomorrow, capitalism would grind to a halt,” he stated, pointing out that in rural Siaya, feudal traditions further entrench this exploitation. He accused landlords and patriarchs of hoarding resources and trapping women in cycles of servitude, disguised as “tradition.”
The weaponization of love and culture
The CPK leader also accused religious institutions, the media, and the education system of spreading the false notion that women’s unpaid labor is a ‘duty’ or ‘sacrifice of love.’
“When a woman in Kisumu spends twelve hours fetching water, cooking, and raising children, is that love? When a girl in Migori drops out of school to care for siblings, is that family values? No! These are crimes against humanity disguised as culture,” Omole declared.
He further argued that patriarchy and capitalism are partners in oppression, training men to dominate households while capitalists dominate economies. Even when women join the workforce, they are still expected to return home for unpaid domestic labor—what feminists call the “second shift.”
A revolutionary call: No reform, only revolution
Omole rejected reforms, calling them a dead end and insisting that only socialist transformation could liberate women from economic oppression. He outlined three key demands:
Recognition – Unpaid domestic labor must be counted in the economy, and women should be compensated for housework.
Redistribution – Men must share domestic responsibilities, while the state provides communal kitchens, childcare, and healthcare.
Socialization – Nationalization of resources under workers’ control, making reproductive labor a collective responsibility rather than a life sentence for women.
“This is not just a women’s issue. It is a class issue. Women’s liberation is inseparable from the destruction of capitalism,” Omole proclaimed.
A call to arms: The fight for a new world
Omole paid tribute to the women of Mathare slums, the Mau Mau rebellion, and every village where women resist oppression. He called on men to join the struggle, warning that “silence is complicity” and that those who do not support women’s liberation will be “swept into the dustbin of history.”
“We do not fight for a seat at the oppressor’s table; we fight to overturn the table and build a new world.”
The CPK made it clear: their vision for International Women’s Day is not one of celebration but of radical change and socialist revolution.