We publish below our official statement condemning the arrest of activists and protesters during the Pan-Africanism Summit Against Imperialism in Nairobi, Kenya. Over the two days of the counter-summit, at least 11 people were detained by Kenyan police, among them foreign nationals from Britain, France, South Korea, and Greece, as well as Kenyan citizens including activist Julius Kamau. Anti-riot officers and Special Weapons and Tactics units were deployed around the Kenyatta International Convention Centre and Serena Hotel, where the official Africa Forward Summit was being co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto. Teargas was fired and shots discharged into the air as demonstrators carrying placards and chanting against foreign interference in Africa were forcibly pushed back along Uhuru Highway.
PASAI 2026 was organized as a people's counter-mobilization to the official Africa-France meetings, bringing together over 200 organizations to challenge what its organizers rightly described as the rebranding of Françafrique under the language of innovation and partnership. That the Kenyan state chose to respond to peaceful dissent with force, on the very days its government hosted a foreign head of state under diplomatic fanfare, tells us everything we need to know about whose interests are being protected in Nairobi this week.
We stand in full and unwavering solidarity with every comrade detained on the ground. Our full statement follows below.