[The Workers Socialist League was formed on December…]

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The Workers Socialist League was formed on December 22nd 1974 as na part of the fight to carry forward the method and principles of Trotsky's cal Iransitional Programme, the founding document of the Fourth Internat- to ional. The WSL now represents the continuity of the struggle for these lev principles in the workers' movement. eta The formation of the League followed the expulsion of over 200 mt members from the Workers Revolutionary Party, carried out bureaucratically by the WRP leadership in order to prevent discussion of their own abandonment of the Programme both in theory and in practice. These mass expulsions showed that there could be no hope of correcting the WRP - an independent organisation had to be founded to maintain the Such a split came out of particular conditions. The rapid development of the economic crisis of capitalism and the forward movement of the world working class, which has now overthrown imperialism in Vietnam and Cambodia, began to produce the conditions to build revolutionary At such a point the importance of a fight for the method and principles of the Transitional Programme, against both sectarianism and opportunism is paramount in the preparation' of revolutionary leadership. After a hard period of isolation from the mass movement, Trotskyism now emerges as the only tendency with a programme and a history of struggle to lead The defence of jobs through the fight for work sharing on full pay, run by trade union committees; the "defence of liking standards through the fight for all wage agreements to include a sliding scale to compensate for all increases in the cost of living as determined by trade union prices committees; the challenging of the "rights" of the employer and the preparation of the struggle for power through the fight to open the books of industry, and to establish workers control in the fight for A major scandal now threatens the regime of Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya. The events surrounding the disappearance and murder of a populist member of parliament, Josiah Kariuki, have exposed the web of corruption and violence on which the quasi-dictatorship of Kenyatta rests.

Kariuki, although himselt a member of the nouveau-riche, post independence Kenyan bourgeoisie and frequent visitor to the Nairobi Hilton, was well known as a spokesman for the interests of the masses in the 'Parliament' dominated by Kenyatta's one party rule.

At the beginning of March, after a series of lucky escapes from bomb explosions in places kkown to be frequented by him, he was last seen alive leaving the Nairobi Hilton in the company of Mr Ben Gethi -commandant of the GSU, Kenyatta's para-military police organisation Reported missing on a 'business trip' he was only discovered dead when his wife, acting on a hunch, smuggled herself into the Nairobi mortuary and identified his mutilated body.

l'he storm broke when the Parliamentary select committee investigating the Kariuki murder issued a shock report at the beginning of this month accusing top police officials, and by implication their political bosses, of participation in a major cover up. The committee noted in its report the difficulties encountered in its investigations - "largely due to the refusal of the police heads to render any assistance even by disclosing the names of witnesses who might have been of value to the comm ittee" - and concluded that "the police knew who the culprits actually are but are unwilling to proceed against them"

ECONOMIC CRISIS

The murder of Kariiki - not the first political murder of left wing critics of the Kenyatta regime - has to ho soon in tha nantart of the developing world economic crisis and the total inability of the post colonial national bourgeoisie to secure economic growth, or an elimination of the vast inequalities of wealth and land ownership (most of the richest agricultural land in Ke nya is still owned by Europeans) in the context of a world capitalist economy dominated by the capital of western Europe, Japan and the USA, now in the throes of an WHAT IS TH fight for Trotskyism.

parties internationally.

the working class in the taking of power. inflationary crisis.

This is clearly shown in a recent economic survey of Kenya by the fairly conservative magazine Africa which reports: "The high price of capital and intermediate goods which are essential for the development of the economy, and the deterioration in the terms of trade are imposing a strain on the balance of payments of the country...... ...In addition the oil price increases have worsened the situation and the level of foreign exchange reserves has dropped sharply. This will slow the rate of growth of the economy and especially the industrial sector which depends on imported capital and raw materials. This in turn will slow the growtl of Kenya's exports of manufactures and will have an adverse effect on domestic trade" (Africa, February 1975)

The economic situation in Kenya has worsened indeed. The rate of growth of the economy fell from 13% a year in 1973 to 4.5% in 1974.

DICTATORSHIP

In this situation the inability of regimes like that of Kenyatta's to provide any defence against the capitalist world crisis while continuing to line their own pockets drives the masses into conflict with the regime. Already underground leaflets are beginning to emerge. To this Kenyatta can only react by tightening the grip of his dictator ship. He has already moved to sack anvone in narliament whn ennke MAJ VAIN tet pus 11L out in support of the report into Kariuki's murder. To date this includes the Minister of Works and the Assistant Minister of Labour.

In a society in which 220 Europeans own 800,000 hectares of rich agricultural land, and all the main hotels and industries remain in European hands with the active collusion of Kenyatta, while 70,000 landless Africans still live in camps set up during the Mau Mau rebellion (1956) the truth of Trotsky's theory of Permanent Revolution is graphicallv illustrated aLAJ Justlavu.

Real independence for the Kenyan masses can only be achieved when the gains of colonial independence are carried through to include the expropriation of the land and basic industry without compensation and under the management of theworkers and peasants themselves. This requires the smashing of the Kenyatta regime by a revolutionary party uniting the workers and peasants.

In Mozambique, the FRELIMO government will assume full powers on June 25th, when the present joint FRELIMO/Portuguese rule comes to an end.

Immediately the historical questions of which road - capitalism or socialism in one country versus the permanent revolution will, and indeed already have, posed themselves. Since 1970 FRELIMO (Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) has adopted the progSamora Machel amme of 'socialism in Mozambique: 'his poses, to say the least, a umber of problems.

After centuries of Portuguese olonial rule under which Mozamique was forced to sell raw materis to Portugal at low prices, and uy back the finished product at iflated prices the economy on idenendence dav will start nut YT LAA Iready on the verge of bankruptcy. lozambique has enough foreign urrency reserves to cover precisely days worth of imports, and oreign debts of over £300m. This herefore highlights the dependence f the existing Mozambique econmy on the neighbouring white acist regimes of Rhodesia (Zimbabre) and South Africa. South Africa t present provides 60% of all lozambique's foreign exchange mainly via purchase of hydroelectric power from the Cabora Bassa dam and the employment, in brutal conditions of exploitation of 96,000 migrant Mozambican labourers in the gold mines.

The mere desire on the part of the FRELIMO leadership to 'abolish capitalism' in Mozambique will of itself do nothing to change this brute fact. Neither does it change in any way the similar economic dependence on Rhodesia. FRELIMO is committed to sanctions against Smith by closing his outlet to the sea via the railway from Rhodesia to the Mozambique enco Marques.

However, to carry through tr sanctions would result in immedi loss of between £12m and £20n income from Rhodesia. Cour with this is the fact that a gr deal of the rolling stock on Mozambique railway system is o' ed hu Smith and furthermore Mozambique railway network it only links up inside Rhodesia. immediate sanctions would pos severe disruption in railway li within Mozambique itself.

What policy then do the adi ates of 'socialism in Mozambic have to solve these problems? T are posed with very much the si questions that faced the So Union in 1917 - degeneration the form of the myth of "social lese iate n in ›led ood the wnthe self So se a nks vOCque' hey ame viet 1 in lism FORWARD ?

in one country' or permanent revolution - linking the building of socialism in Mozambique to the active support for the revolutionary movement based on the armed struggle and the unity of workers and peasants throughout Africa.

Ihe other alternative policy -'socialism in Mozambique' - can only lead to the accommodation to South Africa and Rhodesia and the bourgeois black African states which will reproduce and maintain the basically colonial underdeveloped economy of Mozambique. The signs are that this accommodation is well advanced. In a candid interview given by Samora Machel, the president of FRELIMO, to Africa magazine recently he was noticeabl! equivocal on what has hitherto beer a major plank of FRELIMO policy • the cessation of the export of 'slave labour' to South Africa. Wher asked bluntly whether contract labour to South Africa would continue after June 25th he replied: "South Africa receives 150,000 workers per year. The Portuguese did not create the structures for those people to work in Mozambique. Therefore FRELIMO must before anything else create structures for those people. We are not hysterical revolutionaries, the ten year war tempered us ... We will discuss with our people and ask: if we cut the contract what are you going to do?"

It is clear from this what sori of leadership we can expect from FRELIMO. Machel is similarly ambiguous on the question of attitudes to the rest of black Africa: "Our policy is clear. First all African countries and members of the OAU are our allies. Secondly in Africa the Freedom movements are also our allies"

But as we have seen in the case of Zimbabwe it is precisely the OAU which has effectively sabotaged the liberation struggle through its policy of "armed struggle only if talks fail". FRELIMO does not challenge this strategy. In fact it participated in the original deal to get Smith to release Sithole an‹ others in return for a guerrilla cease fire!

But it is only through active support now for the armed struggle in Zimbabwe that the workers and peasants of Mozambique will gain access to the industrial and mineral of such a strategy will sanctions against Smith through a closure of the Rhodesia-Mozambique railway, lead to victory as opposed to the economic ruin of Mozambique.

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ND VIOLENCE EXPOSE

wealth of Rhodesia to help develop their own economy. Only as a part